Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Ronin
by KLCtheBookWorm
Summary: Sequel to Bloodlines. Allie's beginning college coincides with the appearance of a new vigilante on the streets. The Turtles name her the Ronin, but is she really masterless or is her hatred for the Shredder an Oscarwinning performance?
1. Chapter One

**Disclaimer:** The characters Leonardo, Michaelangelo, Donatello, Raphael, Splinter, Oroku Saki, April O'Neil, Dan Pennington, Charles Pennington, Chief Sterns, and Casey Jones as used in this novel come from _Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles_, the first movie. The character Keno as used in this novel comes from _Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze_. The character Mitsu and the Norinaga family come from _Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III_. 

The characters Lotus Blossom and Mona Lisa originated with the _Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles_ cartoon series, The Purple Dragon Gang originated in the original Eastman and Laird comics, Oroku Nagi was mentioned in _Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Movie Storybook_ by Katharine Ross. I revised their origins to fit these novels. 

All the above characters belong to whoever holds the rights. I'm not trying to steal them, just borrowing them for a little while. I wrote these novels out of my love for the Turtles and their universe. Let me know what you think of my work. 

Allie Baker, Zack Baker, Billy Baker, Clin-san, Sammie Yutang, Taro, and all other characters belong to me, so please don't borrow them, but feel free to draw them and send me a copy of the artwork. 

**Note:** _Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Ronin_ takes place three years after _Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Bloodlines_.

* * *

**TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES**  
**The Ronin**  
**Chapter One**

Zack Baker slammed the van door shut and stared up. And up. The Gothic building with its ornate gargoyles and foreboding look seemed out of place in modern-day New York City, but it suited his sister's dark views and pessimistic frame of mind about life. "All this place needs is a dark and stormy night with a few well-timed flashes of lightening and rolls of thunder. What do you think, April?" 

April O'Neil brushed back her red hair with her fingers and gazed up at the dormitory. "Well, Allie, you sure know how to pick 'em. Are you positive you want to stay here?" 

Allie Baker pushed up her shades and propped them against her blonde hair on top of her head, revealing her sharp, blue eyes. "You live with someone three whole years and see how far they trust your judgment? You two act like I've just given you my new mailing address and it said the Twilight Zone." 

"I wouldn't be surprised if it did," Zack muttered. 

"Lighten up, I'll be fine. I'll even keep a clove of garlic and a crucifix in the room if it'll make you feel better." 

"All I want to know is if you've shown Mikey this place yet?" Zack grinned, his dark, almond-shaped eyes crinkling humorously at his older sister. He loved teasing her about her relationship with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Michaelangelo, because it always sparked a reaction from someone. But at least he knew when to quit, unlike some people or mutants. His finally-hit growth spurt left him just a few inches shorter than Allie, something that would probably be rectified in the next couple of months. 

"Not yet." Allie found herself staring at her little brother, not so little any more. His mental growth was just as obvious to her as his physical. Three years, Splinter and the Turtles' tutelage, Shredder's attacks, and her leaning toward a normal lifestyle had helped metamorphosed the boy from the vulnerable and idealistic child to the strong and idealistic youth. A change Allie was content with. "But knowing how Mike knows me, he'll probably just ask when visiting hours are." 

Zack chuckled as he headed around the Turtle Van. April and Allie had managed to borrow it without any Turtles so they could move Allie to the college campus, and he didn't want to know how they had managed it. No one seemed to think it was a good idea for Allie to move out of the neighborhood. Zack figured Allie was just tired of the Turtles assuming they had to watch her constantly. It made sense with the fact that she was becoming less authoritative with him lately. And Mike agreed with Zack's opinion, and he knew Allie better than anyone. But if it was all so simple, why did Zack have the nagging feeling that Allie wanted more from this place than just an education and an escape? 

"I still don't understand why you can't live at home and commute," April admitted for the umpteenth time. "It would ease a lot of worries. Maybe the Turtles should keep an eye on this neighborhood." 

Zack caught a glimpse of Allie's expression as she grabbed a suitcase and moved it to the sidewalk. She looked everything but thrilled about that suggestion. "April, please don't put any more pressure on the guys just because you're worried. They have enough to deal with thanks to the Shredder. I'm going to be fine." Allie gave her guardian a quick squeeze for emphasis. "Besides, if I don't live with Sammie, who will?" 

"Good question." They whirled around and the slim, Asian-American girl laughed. "Surprise! I figured it would be easier for us to move in together." 

"Huh," Zack grunted. "You just wanted extra help carrying your stuff up three flights of stairs." 

Samantha Yutang laughed. She always found Zack amusing; the poor kid had to have a sense of humor with a sister like Allie. "It's not my fault my parents divorced before they could give me a little brother to take advantage of. Though, I always told Mom she should have adopted you when we had the chance." She ruffled his straight black hair. "You would have blended in a lot better." 

Allie laughed, "Sam, you're an idiot." 

"That maybe true, but you're the only one I've ever let call me that." 

"Let's check out this place."

* * *

April exited the suite's beige bathroom and reentered Allie and Sammie's dorm room. The walls of the two rooms of the suite were painted pale green, and the foyer matched the bathroom and the neutral corridor outside. April approved, it made the place look less like a Vincent Price movie. "Not bad. Sure beats the dorm I had back in college." 

"You didn't find Dracula or Lestat lurking around anywhere did you? I heard you looking." Allie let the pillow drop into the pillowcase and threw the pillow onto the bed. 

"Is it my fault you make everyone worry about you?" April searched Allie's blue eyes for something but, as usual, the girl was blank. The only time April could read Allie was when she lost control of her emotions, which had happened infrequently during the time she had lived with April. Michaelangelo seemed to be the only one who knew the state of Allie's emotions just by looking at her. Sometimes, April suspected Splinter could too, but he never proved her suspicion right or wrong. 

"It's not like I'm dropping off the face of the planet," Allie commented dryly. "I'll probably be back on weekends and I'll still hang out in the Lair." 

Zack grunted as he staggered into the room carrying a large, unwieldy, and apparently heavy box. He managed to set it on the floor, then massaged his lower back as he straightened it. "Gees Allie, what did you put in that thing!" 

"It's a graduation-and-going-to-college gift from Mike," she explained as she slid it against the wall and out of the only walking path into the room that was steadily filling with boxes and suitcases. 

"What'd he give you, his shell!" 

"Ixnay," April warned. 

"Could someone give me a hand with this?" Sammie grunted at the door, bowed over by the weight of the cardboard box that's bottom was threatening to burst. Allie and Zack leapt forward, balancing the box between the three of them and guiding her into the room. They set it down against the wall gently. "Um, thanks. That's the last time I try to pack everything in one box." She seemed cheerfully, despite having almost thrown her back out. 

April found herself wondering again what had triggered the friendship between Allie and Sammie. Samantha Yutang was a petite girl with almond-shaped, dark eyes, and long, free-swinging, black hair. She always laughed at her own antics and April couldn't remember a time when she hadn't seen her with a smile on her face or offering advice to someone. What she and the tragedy-stricken-and-trying-to-hide-it Allie had in common, April couldn't begin to fathom. "Is that everything?" 

"Yes," Allie answered, trying to hide the sudden gleaming in her eyes. 

"That's all of my stuff," Sammie answered. "But I better make sure I parked my car in the right lot." She quickly left them alone in the room. 

Zack sighed, "I'm not one for touchy good-byes, Sis. So I'll see ya the next time you're around." He gave her a brief hug and rapidly left the dorm room. "I'll meet you at the van, April," he called out before he found the stairwell. 

April stared at Allie and Allie stared at April. "This is the day you've been waiting for," April finally said. "You're legally free." 

"But not emotionally free," Allie sighed, gazed out the window, and turned back to April. "Thank God. I can't believe I once thought I could leave you, all of you, behind without looking back." 

"It's been three years. We've had time to grow on you." 

"That must be it. I know I'm going to miss you guys. Even Raph." 

"He'll probably miss you too, even if you'll never get him to admit it." April sighed. If it was this hard letting go of Allie, how hard would it be to let go of Zack? "I can't say it hasn't been exciting . . . ." 

"It's not over yet," Allie managed to come up with a sorry substitute for a smile. "You still have Zack." 

"But Zack's not you, Allie." 

Allie paused to consider that. "No, he isn't. Thank God." Her voice cracked under the pressure of the emotion contained in those two words. She took a deep breath. "He could have been, if it had been just me and him." 

"Could have?" April asked softly. 

Another bare hint of a smile. "Even I will not be so bold as to predicate the might-have-beens." 

"That sounds like something Splinter would say," April tried to smile but found herself too close to crying for it to be effective. 

Allie took a deep breath that caused her whole body to shudder. "Good-bye, April." 

When the time finally came, Allie was the one who loosened and lengthened the ties that bind. April wouldn't forget that. "Good-bye, Allie, and good luck. Be sure to call if you need anything." Allie nodded, not trusting herself to speak. April paused at the door and looked back. Allie didn't move, a tower of strength. She turned away and headed down the hall. That's what Allie was, a tower of strength. A tower ready to fall from its own weight. She paused at the door to the stairwell. Where had that analogy come from? She shook her head. Must be from all that explaining Shakespeare to Donnie. That had to be it.

* * *

Sammie waited until she saw that April and Zack had left in the yellow van with the green roof, bumpers, and hubcaps. She sighed and looked up at the building. It was creepy, despite looking so cheerful on the inside. That showed someone on this campus had some sense. But this had appealed to Allie. She sighed again and entered the lobby. 

This place sure wasn't going to be her social center. To one side, there was an ancient-model wide-screen TV passed on from a time when decorative wood carvings on furniture was considered good taste. The TV had rows of couches and chairs arranged in a worshipping semi-circle. Sammie decided the designer of the sitting furniture must have had a fascination with wooden crates and had probably added the tacky-colored cushions only for comfort's sake. To the other side of the room, there were a pool table, a Ping-Pong table, and a round table with plastic chairs surrounding it between the other two, all waiting for someone to make use of them. An empty aisle separated the two sides of the lobby and led from the main door to the lobby desk, where a bored upperclassman sat chewing her gum and reading this month's Cosmo. Sammie shook her head at the sight and bypassed her altogether, opening the door to the stairwell that was to the left of the desk. 

Sammie found Allie with a pained expression on her face sitting on the made bed in their room staring fixedly at the wall. "That was the hardest thing I have ever had to do," she finally said. 

"It's not like you'll never see them again," Sammie smiled easily, trying to put her best friend at ease. A tense Allie was not something she wanted to live with often. 

Allie twisted her lips into a grimace. "That wasn't what I was talking about, Sam. It's like now," she paused, then stood up and paced the room. "Now everything is finalized and . . . and I can't turn back." She stopped and faced Sammie expectantly. 

Sammie swallowed as she leaned against the doorjamb and tried not to read too much into Allie's expression. That was the problem with reading Allie's expressions, one felt you were reading too much when in reality you weren't reading enough. "You can always turn back." 

"Can you always?" Allie demanded. "Can you?" Sammie didn't answer. Allie turned away with an exclamation of disgust aimed at herself. "Where can we set up?" 

Sammie managed to shrug, "The basement? It's the only floor that's easily accessible without people living on it." Allie snatched her room key off the built-in desk and strode into the pale peach hall. Sammie shrugged, "I guess that's an affirmative HQ location choice." She paused only long enough to shut the door. She knew from experience that just the slightest lingering on the part of the follower and Allie would be gone.

* * *

The stairwell door creaked and its hinges wedged shut as Allie threw her weight against it. "If this is where they expect us to wash our laundry, they should keep this door in better shape," she grunted. Finally, the door flew open and struck the wall and repositioned itself at a twenty-three-degree angle from that wall. 

Sammie eased into the room slightly smaller than the lobby above it, peering for a hidden assailant. The door slammed shut behind her and she leaped into the air, clawing her way around to face a grinning Allie. "Tense?" 

"Easy for you to say," Sammie muttered. "You just didn't suffer from a heart attack." 

"You're not supposed to have a heart attack with all that healthy food you eat." Allie turned her attention to the two doors leading to their respective ends of the hall. "I don't think what I'm looking for is in Laundry." She turned and considered the other door. "Storage, that's considerably more promising." 

"I hate it when you say something looks promising," Sammie muttered. Her heart rate was starting to return to normal, but she had a feeling it wouldn't remain there for long creeping around in this basement. Allie tried the doorknob that refused to turn in her hand. "Oh darn, it's locked. Well, let's go finish unpacking." 

"Since when does locked mean anything to me?" Allie asked lightly as she dug into her jeans front pocket. She pulled out a lockpicking kit and knelt down to be eye level with the lock. 

"Where did you get one of those?" Sammie demanded. 

"It was a birthday gift." 

"Someone who knows you is actually trying to encourage your anti-social, criminal tendencies?" 

"I didn't say it was a friend that wasn't wanted by the cops." Allie gave it one final twist and the lock clicked. She pulled the door open, shoved Sammie inside, and shut the door as she entered the black room. 

Sammie gave an involuntary shudder as her hand searched the wall for a light switch. She finally found it and the two rows fluorescent lights revealed a collection of dust mops, mops brooms, garbage cans, cleaning solutions, yellow cleaning carts, and industrial-sized sinks installed against one wall. Most of this was concealed in shadow, since the two rows fluorescent lights were placed above the row of sinks and the windows had been bricked over from the inside. She sighed and turned to Allie, "What are we supposed to be looking for?" 

But Allie was maneuvering her way through the yellow cleaning carts, heading for the other end of the room. Sammie sighed and followed. Once she had caught up, Allie gestured to a door almost hidden by the shadows. "I think it's a walk-in closet. And I bet everyone has forgotten about it." Without another moment's hesitation, she threw open the door. 

Nothing came jumping out and Sammie exhaled the breath that she had been holding. Daylight streamed in from a filthy window. Allie stepped in and Sammie had to follow. She reached up and pulled the string dangling for the light bulb. The bulb actually worked and shot light into the corners where the sun didn't reach. Sammie shut the door, only gingerly touching what she had to. "This is perfect," Allie breathed. 

"This is filthy," Sammie insisted. 

Allie ignored her and jumped up on a bench to open the ground-level window near the ceiling of the room. "This faces another building. No wonder it got missed when they were covering the other windows." She turned and gazed at the room. "Plenty of shelf space." Sammie turned to the shelves and gulped at the three-inch thick layer of dust and the cobweb mansions. "This is perfect." 

"This is filthy," Sammie repeated. 

Allie blinked, "So it needs a little work. But can you see past that?" 

Sammie tried to do as Allie had asked and shuddered. She wrapped her arms around herself and quickly squeezed. "Allie, I don't like this." 

"I know you don't like spiders. Don't worry, I'll clean them out." 

"That's not what I'm talking about! This whole plan; I don't like it!" 

Allie paused. "Sammie, it's going to work out fine. Just look at it like a big practical joke." 

"If it's just a practical joke," Sammie whispered, her eyes opened wide. "Who's going to laugh at it?"


	2. Chapter Two

**TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES**  
**The Ronin**  
**Chapter Two**

_Three years and we managed to stay together. I guess it's proof that miracles can still happen. I would do anything for her and she would do anything for me. I can't imagine going on day after day without knowing she's mine. She is my life's meaning, my soul's companion, my song's rhythm. For me, there is no one else. _

But how do I know there is no one else for Allie? 

Michaelangelo sighed as balled up the sheet of paper he was writing on. "Defeatist. Doubter. Skeptic," he muttered. 

"Pepperoni pizza," Zack catapulted into a seat next to Mike at the kitchen table. 

"What?" 

"I've noticed that's what Allie tells you whenever she sees you're in the dumps. So I decided to do it for her." Zack watched the Turtle aim his paper at the garbage can and throw it. It went in cleanly. "You miss her, don't you?" 

"A little," Mike admitted. 

Zack laughed. "You don't miss Allie a little. You either miss her a whole lot or you forget who she is." Zack slumped in his seat. 

Mike threw back his head and laughed. Zack looked at him curiously. "Did you and Raph work that out?" 

Zack's expression of confusion was genuine. "Work what out?" 

"Earlier today, Master Splinter asked me how Allie was. Before I could answer, Raph walked past and said, _Allie who?_" 

Zack had to laugh at that one. "I feel sorry for Raph. I mean, without Allie here, there's no one to torment him." 

Mike waved that aside. "Raph'll get over it; he always does. And I think deep down, he misses her." 

"Well, I don't!" Zack exploded. "Everything was fine. Why does she always have to change something that's going good?" 

"Allie needs a challenge." 

"Aren't you the slightest bit angry that she moved out?" 

"She never lived down here." 

"You know what I mean." 

Mike sighed, "I guess a little, but not the way you think. Let me put it this way. Say your friend Karen won a trip to Disney World. How would you feel?" 

Zack shrugged, "A little jealous, but I'd be proud of her." 

"Say she won it just because she had blonde hair and blue eyes?" Zack faltered and didn't answer. "That's how I feel about Allie going to college. She deserves to go because she smart, but guys dumber than me get in because they're human." 

That last bit came out more bitter than the rest and Zack caught it. "Allie's not going to find another guy, Mike. She loves you." Zack decided not telling the Turtle Allie's description of their relationship-I gave up on the human race-was a good idea. 

"I know that!" Mike said, rolling his eyes. "Allie gave up on the human race when she met me. It's just that, I worry about her. Allie's got bigger plans than just graduating with a degree." He waited for Zack to shrug the assessment off and when he didn't, Mike looked at him curiously. 

Zack's face wore a frown and when he finally spoke, there was an edge of concern to his voice. "What do you think would qualify as big for Allie to try to pull it off?"

* * *

April pushed away a stack of papers in favor for just its top sheet. She laid the computer-generated hard copy in front of Leonardo and herself. "This is the general information my source at Stern's office was able to compile thanks to the MO you guys were able to establish." 

Leo frowned as he looked at the statistics. "So you're pretty sure all these crimes were committed by the Purple Dragon Gang and not another one?" 

"Only if another gang has started using ninja break-in methods." April wiped her face with her hand. "You almost have to admire the Shredder's audacity. He knows that anyone sees a ninja in this city and the cops will be crawling all over that case and for a lot longer." 

Leo managed a quick smile, "They're still upset about Billy Baker s death." 

"So he starts a gang, almost unrecognizable from the other street gangs of New York, and trains them to be ninjas. Result: Sterns is ranting and raving that I'm holding out on him." 

"Are you?" 

"Only if you want him to know where you guys live." 

Leo sighed, "The only problem with Shredder's Purple Dragon Gang acting like all the other street gangs is that we can't tell where they're going to strike next." 

"Speaking of striking next," someone grunted from the stairs. 

April and Leo jumped up. Dan was trying to help a badly-injured man down the steps. The speaker lifted his head, letting his unkempt, shoulder-length, brown hair fall back to reveal the cracked and bloodied hockey goalie's mask covering his face. Leo sprang forward and helped Dan hold him up as April gasped, "Casey?" 

He eased back on the couch Dan and Leo guided him to and lifted off the mask, showing off the bloodied and bruised features of his face. "Hi, April," he tried to smile. "Long time no see." 

Leo frowned at the wounds. "I'm getting Master Splinter." 

"Don't bother the old . . . ." Casey tried to stop the Turtle, thought better of it as he moved and eased back down on the couch. 

April pulled up a chair next to it. "What happened?" 

Casey realized he was attracting an audience as Splinter entered the room followed by Leonardo and Raphael. Donatello noticed the commotion from somewhere further back in the sewers and headed over. Michaelangelo and some kid entered from the kitchen. "I ran across some of those Purple Dragons you're always talkin' about on the news." He winced as Splinter pressed something against a cut on his face. "I cornered them in a dead-end alley." 

"All by yourself?" Raph asked incredulously. "That was stupid." 

"Did that just come from Raph or did you guys switch masks?" Casey demanded. 

"You just better be glad those Dragons heard my police siren before they saw me," Dan commented as he patted the portable recorder. "Or there would be a lot less of you than there is now." 

Raph started pacing. "Are we going to let them get away with this?" 

Leo sighed, "I suppose you want to go Dragon hunting?" 

"Yeah! Besides, it's time for patrol anyway." 

"Great!" Casey struggled to sit up. 

Splinter rested a paw on the man's chest. "No, Casey. You need to rest." 

"I figured you'd say something like that." Casey sighed as he laid back without a struggle. 

"Let's go, bros," Mike headed for the ladder. 

Leo activated his Turtle Comm. "Lotus?" 

"I'm here, Leonardo," she answered, her Oriental-accented words matching her face on the viewscreen. 

He grinned, despite himself. Three years, and-if anything-his feelings had only grown stronger for the beautiful female ninja. "We could use your help on patrol tonight." 

"I will meet you at our usual spot." 

"Great." 

"Usual spot?" Mike asked as they entered the sewers above the Lair. "You and Lotus have a usual spot?" 

"Mind your own business, Michaelangelo," Leo growled. "You got the river district. Raph, you take the west side. Donnie, you take central. I'll take Little Tokyo and the rest. Remember to check in with Zack." The Turtles nodded and ran off in different directions.

* * *

Zack quickly bounded over to the side of the Lair where Donnie's computers had been set up before they had moved his lab to another part of the sewers. Dan followed him curiously, besides Splinter and April could take care of Casey. "What are you doing?" 

He looked up with a grin. "This is the command center. It's where I get to keep track of everything the Turtles find on patrol, so they can come back and try to make sense of it." Zack waved a hand at the city map tacked to the wall with red, blue, purple, and orange tacks marking different locations. "Those are were they have met up with some Dragons or ninjas." 

Dan looked around appreciatively. "And here I was think they were just beating them up." 

Zack sighed, "It still doesn't amount to anything. Not when the Shredder s still out there where he can just recruit more Dragons and ninjas to cause more problems." 

"We'll get him, Zack. The good guys always win." 

Only in the comic books, Dan."

* * *

Donatello sighed as he entered the warehouse furtively. He was reasonably sure that some punks were holed up in here and he didn't relish having to confront them. The constant fighting might suit Raph, but he preferred to be left alone with his experiments. 

He found them. Four punks playing cards sat at a table below the catwalk he was on. And from what Donnie could see of the pot, it looked like they were playing for stolen bounty. He sighed, there was no way he could call for back-up without them hearing him. And he had to get that stolen property back to its owners. 

Suddenly, a door opened somewhere out of his sight and Donnie could hear muffled screams. Two more punks pulled a struggling girl to the vicinity of the table. "Looky, what we found, boys." One of them petted her brown hair. The girl tried to pull herself out of their grasp and all the punks laughed at her efforts. 

_Looks like the decision was made for me._ Donnie screwed his eyes shut and leaped. 

The table gave way under his force but the Turtle had already flipped off of it by the time it collapsed. He punched one punk holding the girl before the punk knew what was going on and the girl yanked herself away from the other one and positioned herself behind Donnie. The other punk tried to come after him, but Donnie's kick landed him against some crates. "Get out of here!" Donnie yelled to the girl. 

"Don't worry! Thanks!" 

The instant the Turtle was watching the girl's back, a punk tackled him from behind. Before he could shake him off, another punk helped pull Donnie to his feet. 

Another punk, apparently the leader, grinned-standing well out of range of Donnie's feet. "I hear you Turtles are pretty tough." He pulled an automatic pistol out from under his jacket. "But are you bullet-proof?" 

He aimed the gun straight for the Turtle's heart. Donnie felt his mind run through all possible scenarios that might get him out of this. In each one, someone got shot-something he couldn't let happen. 

Suddenly, a gleam of metal flashed from the shadows and the shurikin embedded itself into the punk's aiming hand. He screamed and dropped the gun. Donnie flipped the two punks holding him as a black figure somersaulted out of the shadows and punched the leader. He looked up briefly to see the female ninja take down the other punk with a bola as he was trying to make his get-away. When he looked up again, she was gone, leaving all the unconscious punks for Donnie to dispose of. That irked him, Lotus maybe a good fighter and he now owed her his life, but she didn't have to cut and run. 

He pulled out his Turtle Comm. "Zack, I just had a run in with some punks. I'm calling it a night as soon as I get it cleaned up." 

"Right," Zack answered. "Were they Purple Dragons?" 

Donnie turned one of the punk's jackets over, looking for the distinctive logo-an embroidered patch of a purple dragon s head. "No, they're just ordinary street punks. At the warehouse at Sixtieth and Twentieth." 

"Right. You okay?" 

"I'm fine." 

"Do you need any help? Raph's close by." 

"Nah, I already had help. If Lotus comes down with Leo, tell her to stick around awhile, okay?" 

"Sure. Anything else?" 

"Nothing on this end. Donnie out."

* * *

"Zack out." He faithfully entered the information in the computer set up just for the purpose of holding patrol statistics. Donnie would fill-in the particulars. Since he only handled one incident each patrol unless the Turtles were together, he tried to take as much off Zack as possible. 

Splinter gazed up, expectantly. "It was Donnie. He's on his way back." The rat nodded and turned back to watching the sleeping patient. 

Zack felt sorry for Donnie. The Turtle only fought when necessary and unfortunately the Shredder was making it very necessary. He wanted to patrol to help take some of the pressure off Donnie, but he wasn't ready yet. He was beginning to feel like he would never be ready. "How's Casey?" he called softly. 

"He will heal with time," Splinter answered. "He has a strong spirit." 

"I've never met him before. I've heard you guys talk about him, but how come he never comes down to the Lair?" 

"Casey chooses to forge his paths alone," Splinter answered slowly. "But he knows he has friends if he needs them." 

_Just like now,_ Zack thought. He decided he was going to like Casey Jones.


	3. Chapter Three

**TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES**  
**The Ronin**  
**Chapter Three**

Donnie lowered himself into the Lair. Leo, Lotus, and Mikey were already there, seated near the end table they had set up for TV-viewing munchy attacks. Zack looked up and across from the corner base. "Hi, Don, what took so long?" 

He collapsed into a nearby easy chair. "First, I called the police and they said the punks I handled were out of their jurisdiction. So I called Allie's college campus police, since that warehouse was practically right next door. They said it wasn't a college crime. So I finally left the lot of them in Stern s office with a nice note." 

"That's not going to make him happy," Mike observed as he scooted over on the couch to make room for Zack as he joined them. 

"I'm beyond the point of caring." Donnie turned to Lotus, "Thanks for saving my shell, but you didn't have to run off." 

Lotus shared a confused glance with Leo. "What are you talking about, Donatello?" 

Now it was Donnie's turn to look confused. "You weren't the female ninja who just saved my shell?" 

"She was with me the whole patrol, Donnie," Leo added. "What's going on?" 

Raph slid down the ladder and joined the group. "Man, that felt good! What's wrong?" 

"Are you sure you don't have any relatives visiting?" Donnie asked Lotus. 

"I know nothing about this!" she insisted. 

Raph turned to Zack as Splinter joined them. "What's going on?" 

Zack shrugged, "Donnie's hallucinating about seeing female ninjas." 

"I am not hallucinating. One of the punks in the warehouse almost got a shot off me. Except this," Donnie dug around in his pouch on his belt and tossed the bloody shurikin on the table, "was thrown into his gun hand by a female ninja who proceeded to help me handle the punks. Then she ran off. That's why I thought it was you." He turned apologetically to Lotus. "You're the only female ninja I know." 

"She's the only female ninja any of us know," Zack commented sarcastically. 

"I understand your confusion, but I know nothing about this." 

The sewer cover clanged open. "Four deep-dish pizzas delivered right after patrol. You guys better have the cash." Keno dropped his head into the opening and turned it to gaze at the immobile group. This wasn't normal; usually there was a mad rush to the ladder. "Hello, does anyone know how I'm supposed to get down a ladder with **four deep-dish pizzas**?" 

Zack finally trotted over and took the pizzas. Keno climbed down and turned to the kid with a puzzled expression. "What's with them?" 

"Donnie had some weird encounter with a female ninja. They better tell you about it." Zack carried the pizzas to the group and Keno followed. 

Leo turned to Keno as they joined the group. "You know the streets. Have you heard anything about a female ninja with a vendetta against punks?" 

"A female ninja?" Keno gulped. "Haven't heard of anybody but Lotus." 

"You need to expand your horizons. I am not the only female warrior that practices ninjutsu in the world." 

"Well, have you heard about anybody with any kind of vendetta who might hire one?" Donnie asked, slapping his thigh in desperation. 

"Not a thing," Keno answered with a big grin while he fidgeted in his seat. 

Splinter frowned at his behavior. 

"I didn't imagine her," Donnie insisted. 

"No one saying you did, Bro," Raph answered. 

Zack watched Keno curiously. "What's eatin' you?" 

He almost jumped out of his seat. "Oh, nothing much. I just got a date." 

"That's not nothing much for you, Keno," Mike laughed. "You have horrible luck with girls." 

"Thanks for the reminder," he growled in mock-anger. 

"Your problem is that you get too uptight around chicks," Raph propped up his feet as he leaned back in his chair. 

"You're giving me advice about girls, Raph? You, who's typical Saturday night is spent beating up punks and ninjas alone?" 

"Well, at least I don't get nervous around chicks." 

"Ignore him," Mike advised. "You got any classes with Allie? How's she doing?" 

"Didn't you just talk to her a couple of hours ago?" Donnie asked as he pulled a slice of pizza away from the pie. 

Mike gave his brother a pitying look. "If you think I believe everything Allie tells me, you gotta be crazy." 

"But a relationship is supposed to be built on trust," Leo objected. 

"There are some things she tells me that I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt," Mike assured him. 

"So what are they?" Raph leaned forward inquisitorially. 

"That she loves me and she s still alive." 

"Allie's doing fine," Keno interrupted. "We have same criminal justice class. The professor says she's got one of the best criminal minds he's ever met." 

"Doesn't surprise me any," Raph grunted. Mike glared but said nothing. 

Zack glanced at Mike and Raph. Once their antagonism over Allie-Raph's hate and Mike's love-had broke out into combat. They finally brought it back under control but everyone watched constantly for signs of another spat. "Why are you taking a criminal justice class?" 

Keno watched the two Turtles and his words. "An elective; I needed three credit hours. That's the only class I have with her. It's pretty interesting." 

"Uh oh, I hope this doesn't mean you re harboring criminal tendencies?" Raph grabbed Donnie's slice of pizza and took a big bite out of it. Donnie sighed and grabbed another slice. 

"It means I like understanding how the justice system works." 

Raph shrugged, "Don't get your pizza tossed on the ceiling." 

"Ignore him," Lotus advised. "I cannot believe you do not know anything about this new ninja? You hear about everything." 

"Maybe she's got reasons to keep her activities a secret." Keno swallowed, "I can put out some feelers and see if I can find out something." 

Keno's feelers were the best on the streets. Leo was decently sure if anything could be found out, Keno would find it. But Raph wasn't so sure. "Let's go to that warehouse and look for some clues to this chick's identity." 

Donnie shook his head. "I went over the place from top to bottom. She didn't leave anything except for the shurikin. Good luck tracing that." 

Lotus picked up the shurikin and held it carefully between her fingers. "You can buy this at almost any weapons shop in the city, and very cheaply as well." 

"Ain't you a killjoy," Raph growled. 

"I never said we should not discover her identity. She could be working for the Shredder." 

"All the more reason to be out looking for her," Raph insisted, jumping to his feet. 

"Thanks, Lotus," Leo muttered. "As if he wasn't hard enough to control." 

"I better go," Keno ran for the ladder. "Don't want to be late for my date." 

"Have fun." Mike called after him, the only one who noticed his departure. 

"Not tonight, Raph. Some of us are actually tired." Donnie brushed his hands together, dusting away the pizza crumbs. 

"Or just plain chicken," he challenged, glaring at his purple bandanna-ed brother. 

Donnie glared back. "Just because I can find other ways to channel my hostility and aggression does not mean that I am a chicken. Besides, if this ninja was working for the Shredder, why save my life?" 

"It might be a diabolical scheme to gain your trust." 

Zack blinked as he gazed at Lotus's cool face. "Do you sit around your apartment all day dreaming this stuff up?" 

"But why use a ninja? He has to know we wouldn't trust a ninja." Donnie rested his chin on his knuckles as he lost himself in thought. 

"I am a ninja," Lotus replied. 

"And we don't trust you," Raph answered. He stood, non-perplexed, despite the withering glare Leo gave him. "If we're not going to do anything, I'm gonna cruise the news for some leads." 

Leo turned to Lotus. "I'm sorry he started . . . ." 

"You do not need to apologize for Raphael's behavior, Leonardo." Lotus's tone was icy and she made no attempt to try to gentle it. "I know what to expect from him. I must go." 

"Lotus, we know you're cool," Zack called out as she and Leo neared the ladder. "Raph's just letting off some steam." He sighed as the couple exited the Lair for the streets and turned to Donnie. "Wanna go over tonight's patrol?" 

The Turtle woke from his trance. "Sure, why not?" 

Mike turned to Splinter as they left for the base. "You never said what you think of all this, Sensei?" 

"Neither did you, my son," Splinter observed. "And you seem troubled." 

"I don't like it," Mike announced flatly. "I just don't like it. I can't explain why, but I don't. And the fact that I can't explain is making me more worried." 

"And that worries me, my son."

* * *

Zack grabbed the phone and quickly dialed a number. _Why am I calling; she has a Turtle Comm._

But the voice on the other end spoke before he could hang up. "Hello?" 

"Hi, Sammie. Is my sister there?" 

"Hi, Zack. No, sorry. She's at the library studying. And she stressed that she couldn't be disturbed." 

"Oh. Well, just tell her that I was checking up on her." 

"Will do. Bye." 

"Bye."


	4. Chapter Four

**TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES**  
**The Ronin**  
**Chapter Four**

Dan turned the page of his notebook as he reclined in the row of chairs outside the lecture room. Keno grabbed the seat next to him. "No, you can't borrow my notes."

"I don't need to borrow your notes. I already borrowed Helen's notes."

"That's right," Dan sat up, interested. "The big date was last night. How'd it go?"

"It went fine."

Dan dropped his notebook. "It went fine! It never goes fine for you!"

"That's not important. I guess I was so worried, I forgot to be nervous around Helen."

"See, I told you she was nice." Dan paused as he picked his notebook off the floor. "What were you so worried about?"

Keno dropped his voice. "A female ninja saved Donnie's life last night while they were on patrol. I found out about it delivering pizzas. And it wasn't Lotus."

Dan gulped, "You don't think . . . ."

"I don't know what to think," Keno concluded as he used both hands to pull back his shoulder-length, black hair.

"She could be working for the Shredder."

"That's what the Turtles are worried about. And I'm worried that she isn't."

"You don't think . . . ."

"I don't know what to think."

"She's been asking a lot on the mechanics of fighting. You don't think . . . ."

"I don't know what to think! And neither do you!"

Dan sighed, "We're probably just jumping to conclusions."

"Well, somebody better answer to this conclusion."

Dan looked at the door of the lecture room. "We better get to class." Keno sighed but followed him into the room. The red-haired young man paused just inside. "Have you talked to Allie yet?"

"No," Keno replied gruffly.

"Has anyone else?"

"I don't think so."

"Let me handle it."

Keno bowed and gestured down the aisle. "Be my guest."

Dan sighed and headed down the steps to the front of the lecture room. Allie was reviewing her notes as she sat in the third row. "Hi, Allie."

She looked up, "Hi, Dan. What's up?"

"That's what I wanted to ask you."

A well-muscled, tall man shouldered his way past Dan and into the desk Dan was aiming for. "Take a hike, Pennington."

"Nice to see you, Donaldson," Dan muttered as he headed back up to the next empty seat.

Donaldson leaned over with a seductive gleam in his eye. Allie glanced at him and looked down at her notes. He coughed softly, "Hello, Allie. How's it going?"

"Just fine, thanks," she turned another page in her notebook.

"Going to my Frat's party Friday?" He asked with a sly grin on his face.

Allie didn't even bother looking at him. "Wouldn't miss the party, but I hope I can skip you."

Donaldson was saved from coming up with a good retort by Professor Dale's entrance. "My time starts now. Everyone punch in." The class tittered as he took his place at the lectern. "We're continuing the discussion of the role media-all forms of it-plays in criminal behavior and law enforcement. Mr. Pennington."

Dan looked up, "Yes, sir?"

"Your father is in charge of Channel Three?"

"Yes, sir."

"What gets the ratings?"

"The blood and guts," Dan grinned.

"Exactly," Professor Dale exaggerated. "There is a definite correlation between human's love of violence, seeing violence, and being violent."

Allie gestured for attention. "What about the media's glorification of vigilantes? It basically says it s fine to trash the people who have hurt you."

"And as always, Miss Baker, you have stated it so eloquently." Allie smirked back at the Professor's retort. "But seriously, it could be part of the cycle. What brings on this question; an interest in the city's local heroes, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?"

Allie tossed her blonde hair back with a slight, sly grin. "I find them fascinating." Keno and Dan gulped simultaneously. "What do you think of them?"

Keno leaned toward Dan. "What is she doing?" he stressed in a whisper.

"I have no idea," Dan whispered back.

"I admire them, Miss Baker," Professor Dale answered. "They are not vigilantes in the true sense of the word. They managed to fight crime without resorting to killing anyone."

"If she gives something away, I ll kill her," Keno declared.

"She won't give anything away; Allie's not stupid."

"Meet at her dorm, after classes."

* * *

Sammie gazed down at the diagram she had drawn during the Psychology lecture. "This theory applies to almost anything?" 

"Just about," the professor assured her. "It tries to explain where in Psychology do emotions fall. You think you know someone who falls under it?"

"It would be the theory to explain one of her major traits."

"It's not a drug problem, is it?"

"Oh no! Nothing that simple."

"Maybe you should encourage her to get counseling if the trait is dangerous."

"I would, if I was suicidal."

* * *

Keno threw himself into a couch in the lobby of the girls' dorm. "Do you see her?" 

Dan stepped away from the door. "No, but Sammie's coming."

Sammie stretched for the door handle to pull it open and her fingers brushed against it. She stretched further and pulled her stack of books closer to her chest. She grabbed the door handle, swung open the door, and stepped inside in one continuous move-hoping to look graceful and dignified. Instead, her foot caught on the doorstep and she fell into the lobby, pitching her books everywhere. The girl behind the lobby desk never looked up.

Keno and Dan grabbed Sammie's arms and set her back on her feet. "Thank you, sirs. I have always depended on the kindness of strangers."

"You have been watching way too many movies, Sammie." Dan admonished as he laid some books in her arms.

"It's a classic; leave me alone. You guys here to see Allie?"

"Yeah," Keno answered. "When is she coming in?"

Sammie twisted her arm to see her watch. "In a few minutes. But so is everyone else to finish watching the soaps. Come up to our room."

"No boys allowed," Dan reminded her.

"Oh please. You guys aren't boys. Boys are men you are dating. You're practically family. Head for the door on the left. Third floor. I'll distract Ms. Cosmo."

"You know, it always happens," Keno observed. "A little of Allie rubs off on everyone she meets."

Sammie poked her head over the desk. "Can I borrow this month's Cosmo?"

The upperclassman flipped another page in the magazine. "Does this look like the library?"

"Just let me see it for a minute." Sammie grabbed the magazine from her hands. "Somebody told me about an article."

"Hey! Give that back!" The girl jumped up but Sammie pulled the magazine to the right and out of reach.

Keno and Dan opened the door to the stairwell and quickly ducked inside. Sammie snorted, "Well, if you're going to act that way about it." She handed the magazine back in a huff. She let the stairwell door swing shut behind her and yanked her elbow and fist behind her. "Yes!" Keno and Dan were waiting nervously for Sammie to finally reach the top of the stairs. "So what did Allie do this time?"

"What hasn't she done?" Dan asked irritably.

"That bad?" She replied as she unlocked the dorm room door and ushered them inside. "Find a place to sit." She apologetically dropped her books on her side of the desk and swept up the clothes onto her bed, leaving the chairs and Allie's bed open for seats. "Sorry about the mess; I'm afraid I'm not really good at this cleaning thing yet." Keno and Dan grinned as they grabbed the two chairs. "So how's college going for you guys?"

Dan rolled his eyes. "I'm still trying to convince my dad I don't want to be a reporter."

"Yeah?" Keno ribbed, "Then why are you taking so many journalism classes?"

Dan ignored him. "So how are the psych classes coming?"

"They're doing just that-coming. And it's all I can do to catch them. Why in this slightly rotting apple did I decide to go to college?"

"Because you can't get a decent job without a college degree," Keno answered.

"I knew there was a good reason."

A key fitted into the door and Allie opened it. "Hi Dan, Keno." She turned to Sammie, "It worked?"

"She never had a clue."

"Have you two figured out how to get us back out?" Dan asked. "Or do you expect us to live up here?"

"You can leave by the back door. The alarm on it isn't set until curfew." Allie dropped her back pack on her bed and landed beside it. "But I get the feeling this isn't a social call."

"You're right," Keno scowled. "What the hell did you think you were doing in class?"

She looked up, her blue eyes opened innocently. "Participating?"

"You're not supposed to give away anything about," he looked at Sammie, "that."

Allie twisted her lips into a grimace. "Did I give anything away? Did I lie about anything?"

"No, but that's not the point," Dan argued. "You have to be more careful."

"You're just paranoid," Allie retorted.

Sammie gave each of the bickerers a good, hard stare. "The Three Musketeers share a secret. Boy, do I feel like Chris O'Donald."

"What?" Allie demanded, confused again by Sammie's unique analogies.

"Chris O'Donald; ya know, the movie. He played the new guy."

"He played D'Artagnan. D'Artagnan is the character in Alexander Dumas's book. You feel like D'Artagnan."

"Okay, Allie, okay. But you do at least get my point?"

Keno sighed, "We're sorry that we can't tell you what the big deal's about, but our hands are tied. It's not our secret."

"No big deal," Sammie shrugged. "I just hate being left out." She picked up her Walkman and snapped the headphones over her ears.

Dan turned back to Allie. "Look, they have enough trouble without you stirring up more. With this new female ninja . . . ."

Allie jerked her head up and sat down on her bed. "What new female ninja? He's not an equal-opportunity employer."

"A female ninja saved Donnie's life last night when they were out on patrol, and it wasn't Lotus. We're not sure what side she's on." Keno's eyes narrowed suspiciously, "You hadn't heard anything?"

"I was studying last night at the library." She jumped off her bed and shifted through the papers next to the phone. "I asked you guys not to use the Comms unless it was an emergency." She turned to Sammie and waved her hands. Sammie noticed and shut off her Walkman. "Did anyone call me last night?"

"Zack and some guy named Mike. He had a sexy voice in a boyish way. He wanted you to call him back."

"Sammie. You're supposed to write phone messages down. On paper. And put them where I can find them. If millions of people on this planet can master this, why can't you?" Sammie shrugged and pressed play on her Walkman. Allie sighed, "I'm going to find out about this. Now," she turned to Dan and Keno, "what are you two doing Friday night?"


	5. Chapter Five

**TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES**  
**The Ronin**  
**Chapter Five**

"This could go a lot faster if we split up," Raph grumbled as they stopped on a rooftop.

"But with all of us here, we won't miss anything," Leo explained for what he felt was the thousandth time.

"There's nothing to miss."

Donnie ignored the bickering and pointed to the next rooftop they were facing. "That's the warehouse."

Mike blinked as he stared at the rooftop behind the warehouse. "Did you ask Lotus to come?"

"No. Why?" Leo turned to his brother.

He pointed to the slim silhouette. "Then that must be her!"

"Come on!" Raph leaped on to the warehouse roof and dashed to the other.

Leo expected the female ninja to vanish; she had ample opportunity to spot them as they chased after Raph. But instead, they found her perched on the rim of the rooftop, seeming amused by them. "The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, a pleasure to meet you."

Donnie frowned at the synthesized voice. "I wanted to thank you for saving my life."

"It was the least I could do." She lacked the usual ninja garb, like what Lotus wore, Leo observed. Instead of the loose, black pants and soft-soled boots, this ninja wore tight, short, black shorts over a black leotard and black, calf-high, combat boots. She did wear a loose, black top similar to the kind by Shredder's ninjas over the leotard top. Her hood was an exact replica of a Foot Clan ninja's, only missing the Shredder's bandanna of honor. But great detail and care had been taken with her equipment. The belt with bulging, built-in compartments hung tight around her waist. A pair of sais were also held in place against her stomach by this belt. A dagger poked out of her left combat boot, and Leo felt confident that there was a matching dagger in her right root. A high-quality katana was strapped to her back.

"Who are you?" Leo finally asked.

"I have no name."

"Who's your master?" Raph demanded.

"I have no master."

"A ronin," Donnie added.

The ninja gazed at him in what seemed to the Turtles a serious manner. "I thought that was a masterless samurai."

"Loose translation," Donnie shrugged.

The ninja nodded. "If you must call me by a name, call me Ronin."

"Who's side are you on?" Raph asked suspiciously.

"You have a one-track mind." The Ronin swung her feet off her perch and faced him. "What have I done to warrant so much suspicion?"

"You wear that mask," he answered.

"So do you."

"Ours don't hide our identities."

Ronin shrugged off the detail. "That's not what concerns you." She leaned into his face and Raph could see her blue eyes under the mesh eyepatches. "Humor me, please."

Raph held his ground. "All right, this bothers me. You're a ninja and most ninjas in this city work for the Shredder."

She leaned back and her synthesized voice held a thoughtful note. "The Shredder. You think I am associated with the Shredder." She pulled a wooden ball from her belt and before any of them could blink, the halves were spinning on the rooftop and she was sheathing her katana. "That's what I hope to do to the Shredder."

Mike looked up from the two halves of the ball to the Ronin's face. "That's not a healthy way to live."

"We must all have our goals. And who knows," she shrugged, "maybe I'll never fulfill mine."

"What do you think you are?" Leo demanded.

"I am what I am," Ronin answered.

"Great, she's a Popeye lover, too," Raph growled sarcastically.

The Ronin shook her head. "So short-sighted. You think that only creatures wearing a shell can rid this city of evil." She jumped on the rooftop rim without looking for it. "Good-bye," and she jumped backwards again.

The Turtles surged to the side and looked over. The Ronin landed safely on the neighboring rooftop that was five feet below the one they were on and took off running. "After her!" Raph cried and jumped down to the roof.

Leo sighed, "We better follow him."

The Ronin, for her part, obliged them by keeping in full sight. But by the time she had reached the tenth rooftop, she seemed to have grown weary of the chase and darted into an opening door on the roof.

Raph, who was closer to the Ronin than his brothers, saw this move and wrenched the door open wider once he reached it. But someone had been trying to open the door from the inside, and a trenched-coated figure fell into Raph's arms with a startled cry. Raph lost his balance and fell to the floor.

Leo-seeing a chance to have a little revenge on Raph for having decided on this crazy adventure-went past and down the stairs without pausing. So did Mike and Donnie.

The slim figure pushed herself off Raph. "The whole point of traveling by rooftops is so you don't get molested. And if you even think about taking my money, buddy, you'll wish you hadn't." She sat on the roof and pushed back her fedora.

Raph gaped at her green face shaped like his with brown bangs falling into her big, brown eyes. "You're green!" He finally blurted out.

"So are you!" she replied. "So we're either both real sick or both not quite human. Which is it, smart guy?"

"You're a mutant?"

"Yes and no." Raph sat up. "The name's Mona Lisa, but my friends call me Mona."

"How can you be a mutant and not be a mutant?"

"Do you have a name or do you answer to _Yo, Turtle_?" Mona quipped.

"I'm Raphael, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Raphael."

"Should I be impressed?"

"You can call me Raph."

"Good, then we have a date this Friday night, Raph. Or is that inconvenient?"

"Friday's fine. Nine o'clock?"

"Fine, I'll be waiting here, outside, so you won't have to snatch me out of my room. See ya." Mona ran to the fire escape and ran down it.

Raph lazily climbed to his feet but made no move to follow her. Leo, Mike, and Donnie reached him in this dream-like state. "Well, we lost her."

"You didn't lose her, Leo. You never met her."

Leo frowned, "The Ronin, Raph. The Ronin. Not some chick in a trench coat." Raph wasn't listening. "Let's go home."

"Friday night, nine o'clock," Raph muttered as he trailed behind his brothers.

Mike looked over his shoulder as they headed for the nearest sewer hole. "You say something?"

"Nothin'. I didn't say nothin'."

"I thought you said something about Friday night."

"I didn't say anything, Mikey!"

"Are you sure?"

"Would you just drop it!"

* * *

"Look, Chief, all I want to do is talk to this kid. What's so wrong with that? You know I'll keep his identity confidential." April gave him her most winning smile. "Come on, Chief." 

Chief Sterns frowned as he sat behind his desk. "I gave you my answer, O'Neil. Now get out of my office."

"I'm willing to work with you on this one." She slapped her hands on the desk and peered into the man's face. "People are more willing to talk to me than you."

"We have our own informants," Sterns told her bluntly. "Besides, all you're doing is protecting your Turtle friends."

"They don't know who she is," April told him equally bluntly. Sterns looked up. "They don't know if she's a true vigilante or one of Shredder's henchmen acting like one to win their trust."

"That's the closest I have ever heard you come to acknowledging that you know those Turtle freaks." Sterns glanced back down at his papers. "Go talk to the kid." The door slammed shut by the time he glanced back up.

* * *

"Hi, Chris," April sat down next to the shaggy-haired boy who needed a haircut. 

His grimy face brightened. "Hey! You're the lady who talks about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on TV!"

"That's me," April held out her hand, "April O'Neil."

He shook it gravely, "Chris Grant. Are you on some secret mission for them?"

"Yeah, they want to know about what happened to you."

"Why?" Chris paused, "The ninja that rescued me; she's part of the Foot Clan?" There was a note of incredibility in the boy's voice. Obviously, he didn't believe that.

"They don't know," April admitted. "That's why they need all the information I can find on her, so they can stop here if she turns bad."

"Okay, I'll tell you about it. I'm going to be here awhile anyway. The cops have to find my mom and that'll take forever. I was at home, watching TV, when this guy crashed through the front door. He had this weird expression on his face and I knew he was high. And then I saw his gun. So I tried to hide in one of the bedrooms in my apartment but the guy saw me and grabbed me. He pulled me over to the window and there were all these cop cars in the street. I was too scared to do anything. The guy backed us away from the window. And that's when the Ronin showed up."

"What happened?" April encouraged.

"Well, the guy holding me got real stiff and he let me go. I turned around because I wanted to see what he was going to do. But he wasn't going to do anything, she was standing behind him pressing a sword against his neck. Not hard enough to cut but he got the message."

"What did you do?"

"I got out of the way. You don't mess with a ninja!"

April smiled, "No, you don't. What happened next?"

"She eased away the sword and he whirled around like he was gonna shoot her. But she must've been expectin' that 'cause she kicked the gun out of his hand. Then she kicked him and he landed against the wall and that's where he stayed. Then she looked at me and, boy was I scared. But she said it was okay. She took the gun and hooked a throwing star to it and threw it at the ceiling. And it stayed! She told me to make sure the police got it. I asked her who she was and she told me that she was the Ronin and left out the front door. Then all the cops piled in and I had to explain everything to them. And then they brought me here, and I had to tell everybody again. This about my tenth time telling this story."

"Well, I think you were very brave."

Chris brightened, "Can I be on the news?"

"We'll have to see what your mom would say. And Chief Sterns," April muttered under her breath.

* * *

Leo answered his beeping Turtle Comm. It was April. "I was expecting you to call sooner. You found out something?" 

"You could say that. I just got finished talking to a kid that a druggie took hostage. He said that Donnie's ninja rescued him and that she's calling herself the Ronin. Does that mean anything to you?"

"It does and it doesn't," Leo answered. "It means masterless samurai."

"She's no samurai. Why is she calling herself that?"

"Because that what Donnie named her."

April sucked in her breath, "You talked to her? I thought Raph wanted her head?"

"Yeah, we talked to her. Donnie says it's a loose translation on the name. And as far as Raph wanting the Ronin's head, I can't say. He's not making much sense."

"Why, he's mad she got away?"

"No, more like he's in love."

April's green eyes bugged out. "Raph! In love! With who, the Ronin?"

"No, someone he bumped into while we were chasing the Ronin. He doesn't know if she's a mutant but she definitely not human."

"That doesn't leave many choice for her to be. Does she have a name?"

Leo braced himself, "Mona Lisa."

"Mona Lisa?" April demanded.

"Please, April, don't you start too. Donnie, Mike, and Zack are still rolling on the floor. Raph's insulted that they think a connection between us is funny."

"I have to go," she said quickly and shut off her Turtle Comm.

Leo sighed, at least she had the heart not to laugh in his face-even if she was laughing.

* * *

Casey sighed as he refrained from throwing down the T.V. remote in disgust. He was a guest so he couldn't trash the Turtles stuff. Not that it was in perfect condition, but it was the principle. 

Suddenly, the sewer cover clanged open. "Who's home?" a cheerful, female voice called out.

"I am, honey," Casey called out.

The response stopped the blonde girl in her tracks. "Who are you?" She asked, eyeing the quickest route to the training room.

"Relax, I'm Casey. Casey Jones. You must be Allie. Mikey talks a lot about you."

She sat down in the easy chair. "Right, you're the one who ran into a couple dozen Purple Dragons more than you could handle."

Casey grimaced, "Just wait until I'm back on my feet."

Allie smiled, "You sure aren't staying because of the great decor."

"The decor I can live with. It's the food that's making me sick."

"Why? Mike's a great cook."

"Of pizzas. And only pizzas. If I even smell another pizza, I'm going to be a lot sicker than I am now."

"They've never understood the concept _Too much of a good thing_. But where are they?"

Casey shrugged, "Out checking on a lead or something like that. It can't be too dangerous 'cause they took Zack with them. You know, for brother and sister, you two don't look a thing alike."

"He looks like Dad; I look like Mom. When did they leave?"

"About fifteen minutes ago. Hey, could you do me the biggest favor of my life?"

Allie watched him suspiciously. "What is it?"

He pulled out his wallet. "Here's a twenty. I need you to go buy the best steak you can for that. Mikey's gonna learn a new recipe."

She laughed and took the twenty, "I'll be back."

* * *

Zack entered the Lair from the sewers. The longer Casey stayed here the more he realized how much work the Turtles had put into their new home. More than one entrance was a good improvement. "Hey. I thought tonight was the big night." 

The kid shrugged, "They started chasing some Purple Dragons and sent me back."

"Doesn't that make you mad?"

"Sure, but me dead will make Allie madder. And they fear Allie's wrath a lot more than they fear mine." Zack plopped down in a chair. "Speaking of my sister, she's supposed to be here already."

"She was," Casey replied. "She's running an errand for me."

Zack scowled, "Casey, did you hit my sister up for some food?"

"I did not hit her up for anything. I gave her a twenty and she said she'll go shopping for me."

"You're impossible."

"Hey, Kid," Casey leveled a finger at Zack. "I have never claimed to be Italian. I don't know where the Turtles get it from and I don't want to know. But if I don't get something inside of me besides pizza, you don't wanna face the consequences."

Allie climbed down the ladder. "Don't get all bent out of shape, little bro, I volunteered." Casey leaned forward expectantly. She pulled the plastic-wrapped package out of the plastic bag. "Two New York strips. I even managed to find steak sauce."

Casey took it gently in his hands. "Now, I know what Mikey sees in you. You're an angel."

"You haven't seen her on a bad day," Zack chortled. Allie glared at him. He held out his hand for the meat. "I'll cook it. If ya tell Mikey it's a New York strip, he'll probably get the wrong idea."

Casey handed it over, "You know how to cook?"

"Zack and I are capable of living on our own," Allie answered. "Have been for some time. Only the social workers never believed us."

"Good thing too, or you might've never ended up here." Mike wrapped his arms around Allie from behind and planted a kiss on her cheek. "You've been hiding out on me."

"I have not," Allie corrected. "If I have been hiding out, I wouldn't have dozens of witnesses that have seen me in class."

Raph rubbed his eyes and groaned. "I thought you were gone for good."

She smiled, "One good thing about a higher education is that it teaches you to tolerate narrow-minded people and their bigoted sentiments."

The Turtle blinked and turned away. "Hey, Donnie, what did you do with that dictionary?"

Mike shook his head and pulled Allie to her feet. "I wanna talk to you, in private."

He led her to an alcove near the kitchen. "What's wrong? Or is anything wrong?" Allie asked.

Mike shuffled his feet as he looked at them. He only did that when he was nervous. "You got a week-long vacation coming up. Keno and Dan were talking about it."

"Are you worried I'm going to run off without telling you?" Allie smiled as she tilted up his chin.

"I wanna know if you wanna go up to the farm for the week. Just the two of us."

Her mouth dropped open. "Mike, I can't. I can't leave the city for that long. I'm sorry."

He tried hard to hide his disappointment, or at least he thought he was trying hard. "That's okay. April and Splinter probably would have put their foots down on it anyway." He walked back into the sewers, avoiding the main room of the Lair.

Allie knew where he was heading; to his secret place so he could sort through his feelings. She tried to follow him but for the first time in her life, her feet disobeyed her by remaining rooted to the ground.

Zack twisted around the alcove and punched his sister in the arm. And it wasn't a friendly, hello-there-buddy punch either. If the stinging in her arm had left any doubts, the expression on Zack's face would have cleared them. "How could you be so cruel?" He kept his voice low so the people and the mutants in the main room wouldn't hear. "Mikey's been planning that for weeks!"

"I can't go, Zack," Allie replied lamely.

"I don't care about that. The least you could have done was let him down easier. You're his girlfriend, for crying out loud!"

She sighed and trudged away in the direction Mike had taken. Zack nodded his approval and turned his attention back to Casey's steaks.

* * *

Allie crept along the rough, wooden bridge that Mike had built through the sewers. She pressed as close as she dared to the wall without touching it as she squeezed past a waterfall from an overhanging pipe to be at the entrance of another pipe. "Mike, can I come in?" 

"Why not?" he called back. "You're the only one who knows where this is." She crept into the pipe that enlarged into a spartanly furnished room. There was a keyboard in one corner and a table heaped with music sheets standing next to it. Mike sat on the couch and stared at the keyboard, brooding. "I didn't mean to hurt you, Mike." She held his hands as she knelt in front of him. "That was the last thing I wanted to do." He looked down at her. "But I can't leave the city right now."

"What's so important that you can't spend time with your boyfriend?"

"I never said I couldn't spend time with you. I just can't leave the city right now."

"What's so important that you can't leave the city with your boyfriend?"

Allie took a deep breath. "I've started something, Mike. And if I leave now, a lot of people will be disappointed."

"Can't you explain it to them?"

"These aren't the type of people you can explain things to."

Mike held her chin and made her look into his eyes. "You're not involved in something illegal, are you?"

"Of course not. You know I've given most of that up."

"Good," he bent down and kissed her. "I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Nothing will. I promise."


	6. Chapter Six

**TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES**  
**The Ronin**  
**Chapter Six**

April sat down gingerly on the cracked vinyl of the padded bench of a booth in the seedy restaurant. "So Harry, what do you have for me?" 

Harry shoveled the greasy burger into his mouth. At one time, he had operated one of the best private investigation agencies in the city. But his business had failed because he had higher ethics than to snoop on divorce cases, so he turned to the streets. He managed to live better than your average bum and he always managed to keep track of what was going on in the underburg (what he called the darker aspects of New York). He liked the way April O Neil reported her stories, the way she dug into her stories, and the way she rode Sterns case. So he decided to help her when he could. "You asked me for what I knew and could dig up about this Ronin character?" 

"That's right. What did you find? Because I know you found something." 

Harry wiped his mouth with a greasy, crumpled napkin. "She doesn't work for the Shredder." 

"So she says." 

"No," Harry shook his head and swallowed some soft drink. "On the streets you can't hide your loyalties. Not all the time; not from everybody. She hates the Shredder as much as I've seen anyone allow themselves to hate." 

"But what is she try to accomplish?" April insisted. "The Shredder isn't going to put himself on the front line." 

"Of course not. But every blow taken by one of his ninjas goes back to him. Why do you think she wears the mask? My guess is that she's someone the Shredder knows, someone he has hurt in a way she probably doesn't even understand and this is the only way to express it." 

"Who is she?" 

Harry shoveled more greasy food into his mouth. But he did swallow before replying. "That she has managed to keep a secret. The Shredder doesn't know who she is, but is willin' to pay top dollar for just her identity." 

April leaned forward, alarmed. "Is the Ronin in danger?" 

Harry laughed, "The Ronin can take care of herself. And besides the streets on her side. They hate the Shredder and his damn Dragons too much to help him. Nah, the Shredder don't know who she is. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles don't know who she is. The cops don't know who she is. The streets don't know who she is." He crumpled the napkin in his hand. "I will tell you this. The Ronin is a child of the streets. She knows them and they know her, the true her-the one behind the hood. By wearing that hood, she protects herself and the streets."

* * *

"This feels weird," Mike commented. 

Leo glanced at him from the driver's seat of the Turtle Van. "Why? We're not doing anything different." 

"Yes, we are. We are out hunting down the Ronin, something Raph insisted that we do, without Raph. Doesn't that strike anyone else as weird?" 

Donnie leaned over the seat. "Well, if you had a chance to go on a date with Allie right now, would you?" 

"Yeah, but who would rag me about it?" 

"Raph," Leo answered. 

"Then why can't I rag him about his date?" Mike finished, perplexed. 

"Do you like living?" Donnie asked. 

"Yeah." 

"Do you want to rag Raph?" Leo asked. 

"No." 

"Then drop the subject," Donnie advised. 

"It still feels weird," Mike muttered.

* * *

Sammie glanced up from her bed in the corner of the dorm room. Allie was at her end of the desk, almost diagonally across from Sammie. She had been typing up a storm but now she sat frozen at her computer. Sammie pulled the earphones off her ears. "Allie, you okay?" 

Allie didn't answer. Instead, she stood, pushed her chair under the desk, and left the room, closing the door behind her. Sammie sighed, "I guess not."

* * *

Raph, panting, reached the rooftop. The last thing he wanted to do was make a bad impression, and being late for the first date was a good way to make one. 

"Right on time," a voice called out. A second later, and Mona Lisa stepped into view. She had a lean body with feminine curves, but she wasn't taller than Raph. She had green skin with a large pale green spot covering her front torso. She had long brown hair, bewitching brown eyes, and a long, green tail. "Well, here I am in the flesh. I hope you're impressed." 

"I am," Raph breathed, then could have killed himself. "I didn't mean it like that." 

Mona waved it away. "Skip it. Once upon a time, I would have been offended, but coming from a fellow freak, I'll take it as a compliment." 

Raph frowned, "I don't like the word _freak_." 

"For lack of a better term for us. You're a mutant and I'm not going to get into what I am right now, so we're definitely not human." 

"What are you crossed with? I'm not complaining, because I think you're one of the most beautiful creatures I have ever seen." Mona looked down, embarrassed. "But I am curious . . . ." 

"A salamander," she said quickly, looking up. "I hope you got someplace to go in mind, because I sure don t want to spend our first date on my roof." 

"I got a great date planned," Raph grinned when suddenly his Turtle Comm went off. 

Mona stared as he pulled the shell off his belt. "I didn't know they made beepers that personalized." 

"It's not a beeper; it's my Turtle Comm. My brother Donatello built it." _And if he was calling, he was dead. If any of them were calling, they were dead._ "What?" 

Leo grimaced. He really hated doing this and Raph's tone wasn't making it any easier. "Purple Dragons are over-running the district north of Thirty-Fourth Street. We need back-up now." 

"On my way." Raph sighed, and turned to Mona. "Looks like our date's over before it started. My brothers are in a jam and I have to bail them out. So . . . wait!" Mona watched him, puzzled. "Come with me!" 

"Are you sure?" 

"Can you fight?" 

"Yeah," she answered slowly. 

"Then I'm sure. Come on!" He grabbed her hand and pulled her to the fire escape.

* * *

Normally, a band of Purple Dragons wouldn't be a problem for one of the Turtles-much less three. But for every Dragon they knocked down, five more appeared in his place. 

Mike panted, his back against the building framing the alley, and holding four Dragons at arm's length. "Does this bring up any bad memories for anyone else?" 

"Save your breath for fighting," Leo grunted. 

"The Calvary's here!" Raph grabbed a Purple Dragon's jacket with his sai and tossed him over his head. 

Donnie kicked another Dragon into a wall as another creature spun by him and sent Dragons flying with a swipe of her tail. "You must be Mona Lisa." 

"That's me. Who are you?" 

"Donatello. I'm Raphael's brother." 

"I saw the family resemblance. So what's with the color coding; your parents had trouble telling you apart?" 

Donnie grimaced, "Great, millions of people in this city, and Raph manages to find someone just like himself." 

Raph tossed and punched Dragons out of his way, clearing a path to Leo. "You owe me big time." 

"I always owe you big time." He took a deep breath, "But thanks for the help." 

"Are you okay?" 

"Just let me get my breath back. Where are these guys coming from?" 

"Let's just make sure they don't go back." 

A Dragon knocked Mona to the ground. "Back off," she growled. 

The Dragon sneered into her face. "And what are you going to do about it?" 

Raph yanked him up, letting his feet dangle above the ground. "I wouldn't worry too much about what she s going to do." 

With Raph and Mona's arrival, Mike began to fight with renewed vigor. He managed to push back the Dragons and allow himself time to pull out his nunchucks. "All right, now we're talkin ! Who's first?" 

The Dragons glanced at each other and crept forward. Mike's nunchucks flew and the line began to fall one by one. 

Donnie reached the mouth of the alley and his brother quickly joined him as the Dragons retreated. "That wasn't so bad," Raph dusted his hands. "Why couldn't you guys handle it?" 

Donnie gulped, "I think you spoke too soon, Raph." They followed his gaze. 

"Understatement as usual," Mike groaned as they confronted the rows of Foot Clan ninjas.


	7. Chapter Seven

**TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES**  
**The Ronin**  
**Chapter Seven**

The Foot Clan ninjas rushed forward, fresh for the battle. The Turtles and Mona tried to resist, but were fatigued from fighting off the Purple Dragons. And a lone figure on the rooftop observed this angrily.

A ninja slammed Mike against the bricks of a building. "Prepare to die, freak!"

A black-clad arm slid around the ninja's throat and pulled him back with surprising strength. Mike found himself facing the Ronin. "You!"

"Are you all right?" She asked, the voice synthesizer not able to disguise the concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Then fight these miserable, dishonorable cowards!"

From anyone else, Mike would have felt it was a goad at his incompetence. But from the Ronin, it seemed more like a challenging reminder. He rushed at the ninjas with renewed strength.

These guys outclassed Mona and she knew it. Beating up street punks was one thing, but these guys were trained ninjas. One threw her to the ground. He pinned her there, holding a dagger over his head. The ninja readied himself to plunge it into her chest. Suddenly, a black-booted foot kicked the dagger out of the ninja's hand. It then kicked the ninja off Mona-using the ninja's head as a football. Mona gazed up at her savior in surprise. It was a girl, dressed-up like a hip-hop ninja. "Who are you?"

She extended a black-gloved hand and helped Mona to her feet. "A friend," her synthesized voice stated. "But they'll never believe that."

Mona backed out of the way as she observed the fight. With the addition of the girl ninja, the Foot Clan ninjas were slowly beaten off. She looked for Raph and found him, holding his own. Mona turned back to watch the girl ninja. She seemed to be fighting like one possessed. What could have happened to her that would drive her to such as extreme?

Soon, they had beaten the ninjas back to wherever the Purple Dragons had retreated. The Ronin surveyed the scene and bolted. Leo noticed, "After her!"

Raph grabbed Mona's hand as they ran down the streets after the female ninja. "Who is she?"

"That's the Ronin. We don't know who's side she's on and she's a little unwilling to tell us."

Mona gasped, "The Ronin! Gees, you guys don't know what you're getting into!"

"What do you know about the Ronin?"

"I've heard enough about her to know she isn't someone you mess with!"

Raph ignored this observation as they ran down the streets.

* * *

The Ronin was running scared. Mona had seen enough people that were running scared to recognize the signs: the glances over the shoulder; the headlong, mad dash; not even trying to lose the pursuers. The Ronin was headed for a place she knew she would be safe and didn't care how many people followed her. But why was she running from the Turtles? What about them had scared her so badly? Or was she running from the Turtles? Great, Mona, you started this looking for a little non-deadly excitement and now you're wondering about the thought process of a wanna-be ninja. 

The Ronin darted into an alley. "It's a dead-end!" Leo crowed as they rounded the corner. "There's no way she can . . . ."

"Escape?" Raph asked as they surveyed the empty alley.

Donnie ran his fingers over the wall in front of them. "I think there's a secret passage, but I don't know how to open it."

"Where would it lead?" Mona asked.

"This is the side of," Mike paused, "Nickey's Blues Bar."

"Well, let's go in," Raph suggested.

* * *

The patrons of Nickey's Blues Bar looked up and their eyes stayed on the Turtles as they made their way through the bar. "You guys don't come here often, do you?" Mona whispered. 

"Guessed wrong. We do, but never out of disguise," Raph whispered back.

The bartender looked up slowly as the Turtles stopped before him. "What can I do for you? The Shredder ain't here." The patrons laughed gruffly.

Leo didn't know if the joke was on them or the Shredder and decided it would hurt matters to ask. "We're looking for a female ninja. We think she's hiding out here."

"You're the only ninjas I see out here," the bartender said gruffly.

"Maybe she's in the back," Raph suggested.

"No one goes in the back."

"We're not going to hurt anything," Donnie replied.

"No one goes in the back!"

"Listen pal," Mona leaned against the bar. "You and I both know that you're hiding out desperate criminals wanted by the cops."

"I am not!" the bartender thundered.

Mona gazed down at her fingernails. "I know that. You know that. But the cops won't know that when they receive an anonymous tip about this establishment."

The bartender growled, "That's the door."

Mona smiled as they walked to it. "Smooth," Raph told her as they entered the cramped hall.

"Crude but effective."

They searched through the storerooms and empty apartment. "Nickey sleeps here?" Mike asked. "He needs to hire a maid."

"He probably uses this as a hideout for friends in trouble," Mona replied. "This place is known for being a neutral zone."

"What makes Nickey's so special?" Leo frowned.

"No one wanted to argue when Nickey decided not to choose sides."

"I think I found the secret door," Donnie called out. They followed him into the next horizontal hall. Donnie traced it out against the bricks. "The only question is where she went from here."

"Probably further back," Leo answered. "There's no way she would risk going through all those cutthroats without changing clothes. And that apartment hasn't been touched in months."

"That's what I love about you," Raph dropped an arm around Leo's shoulders, "the way you jump to those brilliant conclusions."

Leo glared and continued marching down the vertical hall. Mike sighed and followed. Mona leaned over Raph's shoulder. "You get on their nerves a lot, don't you?"

"Deal with it."

"Quiet!" Leo whispered furiously. "I think we found something."

The hall ended in a closed door. A strange symphony of various sounds issued from it. And the most prominent was human voices. "What's going on in there?"

"I don't know," Mona answered when they turned to her. "I never heard about this on the street."

"Which probably means Keno doesn't know anything about it." Leo frowned, "All right, we're going in. Be ready for anything."

He eased open the door. They slipped onto the walkway that hugged the inner wall. The people they had heard through the door were slightly louder, but they were located on the floor below them with the network of computer terminals. No one noticed them. "What's going on?" Mike whispered.

"I don't know." Leo pointed to a door across the room from them that was near a metal stairwell and was on the catwalk that wrapped around the room. "But I think we can find some answers there."

They crept along the catwalk and no one on the floor noticed. Donnie peered interestedly at the computers. "That explains a lot."

"What do you mean?" Mona whispered.

"I noticed someone had created one of the most secured network of computers I had ever seen about a year ago, but I couldn't figure out what it was for. The Ronin must be using it, and this must be where it is housed."

Leo reached the door first and eased it open. Mike shut it behind himself. "This isn't too hard."

"Don't speak so soon," Mona gulped.

Mike directed his sight around everyone in front of him and stared at the black-clad ninja blocking their progress. "Who's this guy?"

"I am Taro," he bowed stiffly, never taking his eyes off the group.

"At least this one has a name," Raph commented.

"You will leave now," Taro replied.

"Nothing doing," Leo growled. "We're searching this place top to bottom. And you're in the way."

Taro pulled out a pair of sais but Leo whipped out his katana just as fast. The sais grabbed the blade. Leo shoved the ninja against the wall. "Get past!"

The others wasted no time. Taro gave a terse laugh. "You'll never catch my mistress."

"You gonna try to stop us?"

He could almost see Taro's smile underneath the ninja hood. "I do not need to. She is more than able to protect her secrets." He slipped the sais off the blade and tucked them into his belt.

Leo watched him as he backed away and followed the others. Taro made no move to follow. The hall ended in an office. This certainly ain't the room with a view, Leo observed as he gazed at the bare and windowless wall.

"Come on, bro," Mike urged. "Someone left the trap door open."

Leo ran around the desk and followed Mike down the hole. "Where does this go?" Then he caught a whiff of a draft from below. "Never mind."

"Home sweet home," Mike laughed. "What happened to Taro?"

"He didn't want to fight. Said we were no match for his mistress."

"His mistress-the Ronin?"

"Who else? I don't think the odds are very high for two female ninjas sharing the same bar as their base."

They reached the sewers proper. Leo and Mike dropped onto a wooden bridge everyone else stood on. "Someone doesn't want to get their feet wet," Raph commented.

"Don't complain," Mona admonished. "I think it's a nice gesture."

"Which way did she go?" Leo frowned. To come this far, just to lose her?

"The bridge only goes one way," Donnie pointed out. "It might be a regular escape path."

"Then why leave the trap door open?" Raph asked.

"It's a game," Mike announced. "She wants us to chase her."

"Let's not keep her waiting," Leo trotted down the bridge.

The sewer bridge ended at a ladder. Mona grabbed a rung, "You know this has been a helluva first date, how are you going to top it?"

"Me?" Raph asked, in mock-innocence. "I thought you were planning the second date."

The manhole cover lifted up on the street and the Turtles spilled out, replacing the cover quickly and disappearing into the shadows with Mona Lisa. "Where are we?" Donnie asked.

An icy vice gripped Mike's stomach. _We can't be here. She can't be here! But she led us to Nickey's, then she led us here. It's just a game. No, not a game, a challenge. And I just figured out the challenge._

"Mike, you okay?" Leo dropped a hand on his brother's shoulder. "You look sick."

_I can't tell them. They wouldn't believe she would do it, that she could do it. And it wouldn't be fair; they had to solve the challenge. But they had to have this clue to even try._ "It's the Greek row at Allie's college. She took me on a tour and I recognize it."

"Well, it looks like that house is having a party. And if the Ronin changed clothes . . . ." Mona turned to the Turtles.

"We'll never find her," Raph growled. "Unless, we get some help! Mike, call Allie."

"What for?" he yelped.

"To have her scout out the party for the Ronin; what do you think? Your girlfriend ought to be good for something."

Mike sighed and pulled out his Turtle Comm. "She's not answering. I don't think it's ringing."

Donnie looked at it over Mike's shoulder. "I think she turned hers off."

"We'll just have to do this the old-fashioned way. There's a pay phone," Raph pointed down the street.

Mike sighed and dialed the number. _Maybe I'm wrong; Allie's safe and sound in her dorm room._ "Hello?" A female voice answered, too cheerful to be Allie.

"Hi, is Allie there?"

"Sorry, but I'm available. She had to go to a party. I'm her roomie, Sammie."

"Was it the party at E, lined out zero?" Mike glanced at the letters on the house with the party.

"Where?"

"It's Greek letters, Mike," Donnie told him. "That's sigma theta."

"I mean sigma theta," Mike corrected into the phone.

"Let me guess, you don't read the Greek alphabet any better than I do. But that's the one." Sammie sighed, "I wish I knew a Frat boy to invite me. You sound too cute to be a Frat boy and I'm available, wanna crash the party?"

"You may be available, but I'm not." Raph snickered and Mike glared.

"All the good ones have been snatched up," Sammie pouted, and it carried well over the phone lines. "So who got a hold on you?"

"Allie."

She sucked in her breath. "Oh gees, it has to be a talent. Look, don't tell her I hit on you, okay? I have to live with her for the rest of the semester."

"I won't. Thanks for your help. Bye." Mike hung up the phone and turned toward the Sigma Theta house. "She's in there."


	8. Chapter Eight

**TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES**  
**The Ronin**  
**Chapter Eight**

"This has to be the insanest plan you ever came up with." Mike grumbled as they crouched in the shadows near the Sigma Theta's patio. 

"Quit complaining," Raph growled. "It's better than your idea to just go home." 

"It's Friday night. _X-Files_ is coming on." 

"Who's the more foolish; the fool or the fool who follows the fool?" 

"No one's forcing you to stay, Donnie." 

Mona quickly kissed Raph's cheek. He turned to her, and she grinned at the shock she had registered. "You're so cute when you're defensive. Besides, someone's coming." 

Keno and Dan wandered out to the patio. "How do we get talked into these things?" 

"Because we're too stupid to realize that when you try to humor Allie she holds you to it like glue." Dan sighed. She is just way too good at that _But you promised . . . _for it to be healthy for her." 

"Dan? Keno?" Leo crawled out and after a second the others followed. "What are you doing here?" 

Dan and Keno jumped back. "What are you doing here?" 

"We're looking for Allie," Raph answered. "We think the Ronin went in there and we want her to scout it out." 

"Why are you guys here? You haven't joined a fraternity." Donnie frowned. 

Dan and Keno both managed to look extremely sheepish. "We're doing a favor for Allie," Dan explained. 

The Turtles and some strange lizard-girl continued to gaze at them. "Okay, technically, we're escorts. But not Allie's," Keno hastened to add, seeing Mike start to frown. 

"I didn't think you guys were that hard up for dates," Raph commented with a laugh. 

Dan blushed, "It's not like that. Allie had one of her brilliant ideas." 

"Oh no," Donnie moaned. 

"This one's pretty good," Keno admitted. "We're supposed to escort girls home that have partied a little too hard." 

"A girl that Allie and Sammie know was dated raped at a party given by Sigma Theta," Dan informed them. "But they can't convince her to go the cops. She was drugged, doesn't trust her memory, and just wants it to all go away. So Allie's trying to prevent it from happening again." 

"That is a brilliant idea." Mona elbowed Raph slightly, "Aren't you going to introduce me?" 

"Oh, sorry. Mona, this is Dan and Keno. Dan, Keno, this is Mona Lisa." 

After general greetings, Mike turned to Dan and Keno. "Has Allie been here the whole night?" 

"Ever since the party started," Dan answered. 

"Getting a little jealous over Allie?" Donnie teased. 

"Not jealous, worried." 

"Anyway, have you seen a girl come in during the past few minutes?" Leo asked. 

"You're going to have to give us more to go on," Keno replied. "Every other person coming in the door has been about three girls." 

"Unfortunately, we don't have more to go on." Leo sighed, "We better go. Thanks for the help." 

Keno sighed with relief after they left. "That was close. Do you think they suspect?" 

"All we're doing is suspecting," Dan answered. "Why don't we just tell them?" 

"Because they wouldn't believe us. We know what she's capable of, but they don't have a clue. Except Mike; he might know. That was a good answer you gave him." 

"I'm just glad he didn't ask what time the party started. I don't think I could have told him ten minutes ago."

* * *

Casey threw back his head and laughed after he heard the story. "A great way to spend a date, Raph." 

Raph shrugged, "It worked out. We're going back out again next week." 

Zack scowled, "I think you guys are starting to persecute her." Mike nodded in agreement. 

"What do you mean?" Leo asked. 

"If she was working for the Shredder, she could have let those ninjas finish you off. But she saved your shells. Why should she?" 

"That's what's been bothering me," Mike lied. 

"Are you two going soft?" Raph demanded. 

"Nothing soft about it," Mike declared. "I just think we should leave her alone. We can use all the help we can get." 

"You keep chasing her and she'll turn on you guys," Zack prophesied. 

"I'd just feel better if she trusted us enough to tell us who she really is," Donnie finally commented. 

"Would you trust the guys chasing you?" Mike demanded. 

Casey shifted his posture. "Sounds like you're pretty defensive for her, Mike. Does Allie know?" 

"No, Allie doesn't know." 

"What's a matter, you don't think the Ronin can fight her own battles?" Leo asked. 

"I know she can fight her battles. I also know you can't win if we fight her." Mike pulled himself out of the easy chair and stalked out of the main room. 

"I think there's going to be trouble," Zack observed.

* * *

Allie eased open the door and eased it shut. "Damn it, Allie. You're coming in later and later. How do you think this is going to affect your grades?" 

"Lay off it, Sam. I had a bad night." She stretched out on her bed, hoping to sink down into forgetfulness. But Sammie wouldn't shut up. 

"You should have come straight back after the Sigma Theta party." 

"I had things to check up on." 

"Check up on, nothing! You're suffering from the opponent-process theory!" 

Allie propped herself up on her elbow and looked at Sammie sitting at the desk. "I'm going to regret this, but what are you talking about?" 

"It's a psychological theory about behavior," Sammie replied. 

"I'm sorry already." 

"Quiet, this really explains you. For example, let's take skydiving. What do you feel like before you jump?" 

"I don't know; I've never went skydiving." 

"Take a wild guess. You know how you would feel if you went skydiving." 

"Okay, I'd be so scared, I'd pee on myself." 

"Thank you, that's process A." 

"We're not going through the whole alphabet, are we?" 

"Allie, will you work with me?" 

"Okay, okay." 

"How do you feel when you safely land on the ground?" 

"I'd call it the Thank-God-I'm-alive feeling." 

"Okay, that's process B. Now when you go skydiving again, process A stays the same but process B starts sooner. But you're addicted to process A so you have to jump from a higher altitude to get the same kick you got from the first time. It's the same thing with you." 

"Sammie, I'm going to sleep." Allie wrapped the quilt around her body and burrowed her head into her pillow. 

Sammie snorted, "The trouble with you is that you have no interest in solving your psychological problems." The pillow hit the back of her head.

* * *

"All right, hold it right there." April scampered down the ladder into the Lair. Dan and Keno froze in their places. "You guys are the only ones I haven't talked to." 

"About what?" Dan tried to sound nonchalant. 

"About the Ronin. What do you know?" 

"She's a girl," Keno replied helpfully. 

"She saved Donnie's life," Dan added. 

April sighed. She could smell a runaround. Years on Sterns' case had given her a nose for them. Why would Dan and Keno give her the runaround? Unless, they knew something they didn't want anyone else to know. "What are they saying about her at your college? Most of her sightings have been around your campus." 

"Sorry, April, but no one's really talking about her," Keno admitted. "As long as she's not robbing us blind or grading our midterms, we're happy." 

April sighed again and glared at them. "All right, but let me know if you find out anything." 

"We will," Dan promised. 

"You'll be the first reporter we'll call," Keno added. 

Casey laughed as Dan and Keno hurried up the ladder. "I should come down more often. You guys are entertaining." His voice grew more serious. "You haven't lost your touch, babe." 

"And what would you know about my touch?" Her cheeks flamed. "Don't answer that!" 

"I meant your reporting touch. I've seen you operate before. You had Dan and Keno scared to death of you." 

She frowned, "But why are they scared of me?" 

Casey frowned, "Well, they're scared of somethin'. If it's not you, what is it?"


	9. Chapter Nine

**TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES**  
**The Ronin**  
**Chapter Nine**

"Did you know your name has psychological meaning?" Sammie flicked through the book she held.

"What are you talking about?" Allie looked up from her homework.

"Well, you know names have meanings. But they also carry connotations people have about them. Those connotations give names their psychological meanings."

"Your extra-curricular reading is effecting your mind, Sam."

"_Allison_ means _little truthful one_. Boy, your parents really knew what they were doing."

"Very funny," Allie scowled. "And what does _Samantha_ mean?"

"_A listener_."

"And you're making fun of my parents? What does _Zackery_ mean?"

Sammie flipped a few pages. "_Zackery_ means _Jehovah hath remembered_."

"_Jehovah hath remembered_," Allie repeated musingly.

"_April_ means _opening_ or _born in April_. Was she?"

"Yeah. Funny, I never thought of her as an opening."

"Ha, ha," Sammie frowned. "Very funny. Give me another name."

"_Michael_ . . . ," Allie faltered.

"Michael, Michael. Here it is. _Michael_ means _who is like God_. Does that fit this particular Michael?"

"In my personal opinion . . . ." Sammie leaned closer. "It's none of your business."

Sammie recoiled and stuck out her tongue. "You're no fun sometimes, Allie. Especially when you're keeping secrets."

"So that's why I'm never invited to any parties. Don't you have to go to work tonight?"

Sammie glanced at the digital clock radio. "Oh gees. Mac'll kill me if I'm late." She grabbed her tape case and slung it onto her shoulder, pausing at the door. "Are you going out tonight?"

"Not until after I finish this Pre-Cal homework," Allie answered. "And it looks like an all-nighter."

"All righty, I'll see you when I get back."

* * *

The street leading to the studio was well-lighted, something Sammie was thankful for every night she had to work. She walked rapidly down the sidewalk, not out of fear but worry that she should be late. 

Two black-clad ninjas jumped down in front of her. "Out of my way, boys. You're late for Halloween and I'm late for work."

"You will come with us." One reached out and grabbed Sammie's wrist.

"I will not! Let go!" She wrenched her hand away and backed into another ninja. He wrapped his arms around her chest, pinning her arms. Sammie threw her heel into his toes. He tossed her to the ground. Sammie sat up and looked at the five ninjas surrounding her.

"You will come with us," the speaker ninja announced again. "Your friends cannot help you now."

"Think again." The ninja whirled and received a green fist in the face. Within a few seconds, they overcome the ninjas.

"Are you okay?" A Turtle wearing an orange mask knelt beside her.

"Yeah, I think so," Sammie shook her head and stared. "You're the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!"

"That's right. Do you have a name?" He helped her to her feet.

"Sure, Sammie Yutang. You guys are the real thing?"

"If we're not, nobody's told us," the Turtle in the red mask answered.

"That's Raphael, Leonardo, Donatello, and I'm Michaelangelo."

"Wow, I can't believe it. My roomie's gonna flip!"

"You shouldn't be left alone," Donnie said. This girl struck him as just slightly ditzy. "Maybe we should escort you to your destination."

Sammie might seem ditzy but she wasn't completely. "No way. If I go to work, what's to stop some more of those guys from jumping me as I head back to the dorm? I'd ask one of my coworkers to drive me back but I don't want any of them knowing where I live." Her face brightened. "You can take me back! And you can meet my roommate."

"I'm not sure if that's such a good idea," Leo began.

"Oh please," Sammie begged. "Besides, how would it look in your profession if I disappeared off my doorstep? I watch the news and I wouldn't hold it past this bunch." Her thumb jerked in the general direction of the comatose ninjas.

"Oh, all right," Leo gave in, exasperated. "But no autographs."

"Wouldn't dream of asking," Sammie murmured innocently.

"She's good," Donnie whispered to Mike as they fell in step behind her.

"I think I know how she got that good," Mike answered, too low for Donnie to make out.

"Come again?"

"Later."

* * *

Sammie left them at the back door of her dorm as she went around to open it. "We could run for it," Raph suggested. 

"Come on, Raph. Isn't it nice to be admired every once in a while?"

"I just don't want it to become a habit, Leo."

Sammie threw open the door. "Come on in. I need to call Max and tell him what happened."

"And Max is?" Donnie prompted.

"My boss. I scout out new bands for his studio. He'll be upset I didn't show, but he'll be more upset that I almost got mugged." She stopped on the stairs and stared at the Turtles. "Is that a good cover story?"

"Good as it'll get. But how will you explain that nothing happened?"

"I'll just say someone came to my rescue," Sammie replied airily. "That's true enough." They reached the third floor, and Sammie unlocked her dorm room doors. "You'll never guess who I just met!" She announced to someone in the room. "Tada!" The Turtles entered the room hurriedly. They didn't know who might see them in the hall.

Allie leaped to her feet. "Mike!"

"Allie!" The Turtles gasped as one.

"Is there anyone in this city you don't know?" Sammie grumbled as she dropped onto a bed.

"What happened? You left this room just knowing they existed."

"She almost got kidnapped by Foot Clan ninjas," Leo answered for her. "We rescued her and she wanted to show us off."

"Are you all right?"

"You sound almost concerned, Allie," Raph remarked acidly.

"Don't mind, Raph. I beat him in a battle of wits when he fought unarmed and his ego is still recovering. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Sammie answered testily, then softened. "How do you know them?"

Allie squirmed, "Remember all that trouble with Billy's murder? They helped me and Zack."

"Yeah, ninjas killed him." Sammie's mouth formed an O. "The Foot Clan ninjas are after the Turtles and you got in the middle of it!"

"More or less. But it's too long of a story. That's when I met Mike," she blushed, "I mean the Turtles."

"I know what you mean," Sammie turned a critical eye on Mike. "That explains why you don't have a picture."

"One of Sammie's psychological insights," Allie explained to Mike's look. "She figures something was wrong with me because I didn't have a picture of my boyfriend out on display."

"She's not too far off," Raph grumbled.

"Would you like to wait in the hall?" Allie asked him sweetly.

"The question is why did the Foot Clan go after Sammie?" Donnie said, deftly defusing the bomb about to explode between them.

"Maybe they went after Sammie to get to Allie to get to us." Leo took a deep breath, "That's a mouthful."

"If that's the case, you need to come home, Allie."

Allie's blue eyes narrowed slightly. "What do you mean, Mike? Go back to April's?"

"Yes."

"But this is my home."

"This isn't a home, it's a stopping-off point."

"Okay, so it's a stopping-off point! That's all April's was!" Allie's voice rose and her eyes flashed.

Mike tried to stay calm. "You're not safe here."

"I'll never be safe anywhere until the Shredder's neutralized!"

"Is that supposed to be my fault?" Mike asked quietly.

"Do you want to claim responsibility? The point is I won't run and I won't hide, so you have to learn to live with it."

"Even if that gets you killed!"

"It's my life, it's my decision!"

"And my opinion doesn't count?"

Sammie backed away from the arguing couple. "Tell me they fight all the time."

"This is the first time they have ever fought in front of an audience," Leo replied.

"Tell me they fight all the time," Sammie repeated.

"I guess it doesn't!" Allie shouted, then wished she hadn't. Mike's eyes were so wide, even though the rest of expression hadn't changed. She had hurt him, hurt him more badly than she ever had before. But she couldn't back down, wouldn't back down. He had to see her point.

"You're not coming back with me?" He asked softly and slowly.

"Not as a prisoner to be kept in the Lair."

"Then you've made your decision." Mike turned and walked out of the room. The three other Turtles paused and looked at Allie, then looked at the door. The best thing to do was leave, and they did.

Allie sat shakily on her bed as Sammie watched. When she was sure that Allie was calm, she bolted out the door.

* * *

The Turtles detoured around their brother. "Something big just happened," Raph muttered. 

"I thought you'd be happy about it," Donnie frowned.

"I thought I'd be happy too. But Mikey's really upset. I think I know how he feels. I know how I would feel if Mona did to me what Allie did to Mikey."

"Don't look now, but I think that girl is awakening some spark of compassion in you."

"Very funny, Leo," Raph growled.

Sammie noticed Mike was trailing behind the others. "Michaelangelo!"

He turned to face her. "What is it?" His voice was tired.

"I can help you help her."

"Say what?"

Sammie took a deep breath. "I can help you help Allie. She needs your help."

"She doesn't seem to want it too badly."

"That's just the way Allie is. It's her psychological reaction to trouble. The more she's in, the harder she pushes everyone away. I don't know what happened when Billy died, but I'd bet she was a real witch during the whole thing."

Mike smiled slightly, "She was."

"The same thing is happening now. You didn't forsake her then; are you going to forsake her now?"

Mike sighed, "I don't know. I don't want to. I love her, but she has to trust me."

"Trust doesn't come easy for Allie," Sammie announced.

"I know that. But I trust her, why can't she trust me?"

"I don't think it's a matter of trust anymore. She thought she got hold of something and could let go of it any time she wanted. Instead, it has grabbed hold of her and won't let go."

Mike frowned, "She's in over her head, isn't she?"

"Yeah, but I don't think she knows it yet. Just remember that I can help."

"I'll remember." Mike joined his brothers and Sammie sighed. Michaelangelo might want to help, but he wouldn't understand how.

* * *

Allie was still sitting on the bed when Sammie returned to the room. "Are you okay?" 

Allie took a deep breath. "I've really done it this time."

"You can't blame him for being protective."

"That's not it, Sammie. He knows. And he doesn't like it."

"He loves you. Would you want someone you love risking their live every night?"

"I support Mike. That's what he does almost every night. I don't complain about it."

"Yeah, but he told you from the start what he did."

"They never believed I could do it!"

"If Mike really believed that, would he know?"

Allie wilted, "No, he wouldn't."

Sammie repented for her harsh words and took a softer tone. "Look, this is Sammie talking. Not only am I a psychology genius, I'm good at reading peopleespecially boys. What's got him miffed is three, you're risking your neck; two, you don't care that you're risking your neck when he doesn't want to see you die; and one, you didn't trust him from the start to tell him that you were risking your neck."

"I know, I know . . . ."

"I don't think you do, Allie. Let me put it this way, would you marry Mike?"

"What kind of a question is that?"

"Just answer it."

"Not now, and besides, who would we find to perform the ceremony?"

"All that aside, hypothetically, would you marry Mike?"

Allie's head snapped up and defiance shown in her eyes. "Yes, I would. I would in a heartbeat."

"Marriage is the ultimate sign of trust. Believe me, I know that from watching my parents kill theirs. If you can trust Mike with your heart, why can't you trust him with your secret?"

Allie didn't answer right away, and Sammie's glance at her friend's expression confirmed her suspicions. Allie's blue eyes were brimming with tears that never spilled over. Those same eyes were torn with conflict. _It won't let her go,_ Sammie realized sadly. _It'll never let her go and it will never share her with someone._

"I have to go," Allie finally said. "I have appointments to keep."

"I thought you didn't run any more." The door slammed softly into place.


	10. Chapter Ten

**TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES**  
**The Ronin**  
**Chapter Ten**

"This is becoming an obsession with you four." Lotus pulled off her hood and stared at the Turtles.

Leo swallowed hard. Only Lotus would question his decisions seriously and actually not follow him if she didn't agree with it. "It's not an obsession. The Ronin's playing a game with us. She wants us to chase her and try to figure out who she is."

"But you do not have to play."

"Lotus, will you leave Leo alone," Raph growled. "We like bugging the Ronin."

"Lotus," Leo grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the others. "It's not what you think. The Ronin needs help. Why do you think she does what she's doing?"

"She is nokimono of a dojo."

"An outcast? The synthesizer could be disguising an accent. But her style is unlike any martial arts I have ever seen."

"Perhaps she comes from a secret dojo. They do exist."

"I don't doubt it. But that doesn't bother me. Why does she hate the Shredder so much?"

"If anyone deserves the hatred, it is Oroku Nagi."

"But what will that hatred do to the Ronin?"

Lotus paused, "You want to help her. I am sorry, I should trust your judgement more."

Leo smiled weakly, "Don't. It's nice having at least one person who doesn't follow me blindly."

Mike nudged Donnie and pointed down to the street. "Is that who I think it is?"

"Looks like our best buddies miss us."

Raph, Leo, and Lotus turned to watch the street Mike and Donnie had noticed. "Maybe we should go play with them?"

"Maybe we should," Leo commented as he vaulted over the side of the rooftop and onto the fire escape.

The four Turtles and Lotus dropped onto the street, surrounding the eight Foot Clan ninjas. "A little early for scum like you to be out, isn't it?" The ninjas answered by pulling out their weapons. "Well, if that's what you want." Leo shrugged.

The Foot Clan ninjas rushed forward and two managed to pull Lotus away from the main fighting. She gritted her teeth. Either they were uncommonly gentlemanly or they had something special planned for her. _Lucky me._

The ninja in the shadows grinned to himself. He shifted the dagger in his hand as Lotus was forced closer. He raised the dagger and a hand deftly grabbed his wrist. He looked up; the Ronin hung upside down from the fire escape by her knees and calmly plucked the dagger from his hand. "Play nice, boys or don't play at all."

The ninja growled and tried to pull her down. Lotus saw this, grabbed one of the ninjas attacking herself and spun him into the ninja yanking on the Ronin. The momentum was enough to force them both against the side of the building. The other ninja rushed at Lotus and she obliged him by throwing her fist against his temple. She then kicked him to the ground.

The Ronin had flipped off the fire escape and just finished tying the ninjas when Lotus turned. "They're out cold," she announced. "If you'll excuse me," the Ronin marched past with flourish.

Lotus grabbed Ronin's arm and wrenched the ninja back to face her. "Of all the audacity. Stop what you are doing, now!"

"If I stop and your lover dies, how would you feel then?"

"That is not what I mean! I care nothing about your vigilante stance. The Shredder deserves all troubles anyone wants to heap on his head. I want you to stop toying with the Turtles! Stop teasing them with your identity! If you want them to know who you are, take off your hood and show them! Go ahead, take it off and show them now!" She released the Ronin and the ninja stood there, staring at her, not moving. "That is what I thought. Leave now, and remember what I have said."

The Ronin gazed at Lotus, then turned and ran into the shadows. Lotus turned her attention back to the fight. The Turtles had it under control, but she struggle with a few ninjas and the activity helped ease the pressure of her worries. Leo joined her, leaving the others to truss up the Foot Clan ninjas. "I thought the Ronin was here?"

"I did not notice her." Leo frowned. "Leonardo, I love you." He gazed at her in puzzlement. She never talked about this, not in public, and he knew it. "Always remember that."

"I will." He grabbed her black-gloved hand. "You're not planning anything stupid, are you?"

"No, I am not planning anything stupid." He squeezed her hand and turned away. "I may have already accomplished it."

* * *

Zack let the punching bag swing back and he kicked it out again. If he practiced long enough, the movement would become second nature. That's how the Turtles fought, with reactions. If they thought about stances and moves at all it was subconsciously. "Zackery," from the door interrupted his meditation. 

"Master Splinter!" The rat's appearance surprised Zack. This was his meditation hour and he rarely came out of his room. "Is something wrong?"

"Where are my sons?" Splinter asked weakly as he leaned heavily against the sewer wall.

"Mike's in the kitchen, Leo and Donnie are running errands with April, and Raph's out on a . . . Master Splinter!" Zack knelt beside the rat's crumpled body. "Splinter!" Something was wrong. "Mike! Mike! Miiiiike!"

The Turtle rushed into the training room. "What is it . . . Oh God!" He knelt next to the rat. "Master Splinter!"

Casey hobbled to the room and looked in the door. "What's going on?"

"He just collapsed, Mike!" Zack's face was pale and pinched. "He was standing there talking and he collapsed!"

"Call Leo, Donnie, just call everybody! Tell them to get down here!" Mike finished checking Splinter as best he could and gathered him in his arms. He was so thin, so frail. How long had he been like this?

Casey followed Mike to Splinter's bedroom. "Is he going to be okay?"

"I . . . I don't know. He's still breathing, but his pulse is weak. _ER_ isn't one of the shows I watch."

"What can I do to help?" Casey clenched his fist. Splinter couldn't die. Sure, he was old but he couldn't die.

"Help, Zack. I . . . I don't think I should right now." Casey retreated and Mike focused his full attention on Splinter.

* * *

Mona tossed her hair back and smiled at Raph. "So, what do you have planned for tonight?" 

Raph shrugged, "Maybe dinner and a movie."

"That's seems so tame after our last date."

"We could go without any disguises."

The Turtle Comm beeped persistently. Mona raised her mouth in a smirk. "That's going to be a big part of any relationship we try to have, isn't it?"

"I told them not to call me." He yanked it off his belt. "What is it!"

Zack visibly gulped. "Raph, I'm sorry."

"This better be important!"

"It's Splinter!"

"Why isn't Splinter calling?"

"Because he's sick!" Zack's eyes were opened wide. "Really sick, Raph. Mike said to get everybody down here . . . ."

Raph shut his Comm. He couldn't hear any more. Mona touched his shoulders, but he was so numb he could hardly feel it. "Who's Splinter, Raph?" Her voice was so distant; he almost couldn't hear her through the buzzing. "Who is he?"

"My father . . . sorta. I have to get down there."

"Raph, wait! You're in no shape to go alone!"

"Come with me then. Just hurry!"

* * *

Leo and Donnie had rushed back as soon as Zack had told them. Donnie had pulled Splinter out of the unconscious state he had been in but he wasn't sure how long it would last. Mike was only to relieved to leave Splinter in Leo and Donnie's hands, especially when the rat had given him a job. "I must speak to Allison. Bring her here." 

Mike turned to Zack. April and Casey were with him, trying to help. _They don't understand that Zack's just as upset as we are. Splinter means a lot to him, too._ "Where's Allie?"

"I couldn't reach her. Her Turtle Comm's turned off," Zack realized Mike wasn't going to tell him anything, if he knew anything to tell. "Want me to try again?"

"I'll go get her."

"I'll go with you," April offered.

"No!" She stared at him with the intensity of his response. "Leo and Donnie might need your help." The explanation sounded weak, even to him.

Casey watched him leave. "That is one Turtle with a lot on his mind."

* * *

Allie glanced through her closet. She pulled out an electric blue turtleneck. The mirror-the enemy tonight-showed the dark circles under her red-rimmed eyes. She brushed back her hair and washed her face. She wanted to talk to Mike, to apologize for the shouting match, to make him understand how much this meant to her. 

A knock sounded on the window. She unlatched it and turned away as Mike climbed in. "I've been thinking about the fight we had." She faced him nervously biting her lip.

Mike hadn't heard her. He always listened to her. But now he had withdrawn into his own worries. Worries that were probably about her. "Mike, what's wrong?" She reached out and tried to pull him close.

He shied away from her touch. "It's . . . it's Splinter. He wants you to come."

His attitude and Splinter, suddenly it fell into place. He wasn't worried about her. "What's wrong with Splinter?"

Mike turned back to the window. "I don't know. He's real sick. Are you coming? He asked for you."

"Just wait a minute, I need to leave Sammie a note." Allie scribbled out a message on a pad, joined Mike by the window, and grabbed hold of his shell.

If he minded the touch, he didn't let her know as they swung out of the window. They reach the ground and Mike tugged loose his grappling hook. Allie followed him to the Turtle Van. "Let's go."

She shook her head. "Scoot over, I'll drive. You're too upset."

"I'm fine."

"You're about to fall to pieces. In fact, you need to fall to pieces. I'm driving."

"I drove over here fine, Allie! I think I would know if I'm going to lose it! Or are you trying to say that I don't know myself just like I don't know you!" He laid his head against his arms that covered the steering wheel. "I'm sorry, Allie, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it."

"I know." He eased away from the wheel and moved down the bench seat. Allie climbed inside and wrapped her arms around him. "I know you're hurting. I don't care if you have to take it out on me. I'm tough; I can handle it."

"Can we go? I wanna get back."

Allie started the van. "We're already there."


	11. Chapter Eleven

**TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES**  
**The Ronin**  
**Chapter Eleven**

Donnie glanced up from his medical treatment as Allie and Mike entered Splinter's spartan bedroom. "Good, you're finally here. Let him tell you whatever he wants to and don't argue with him and don't excite him. His life's depending on it!"

Leo pushed a chair beside the bed and Allie sat as she held Splinter's paw. "Splinter, it's Allie. I'm here. They said you wanted to talk to me."

Splinter eased open his eyes. "Allison. I have been worried about you."

"Who doesn't worry about me?"

He squeezed her hand. "When you travel the dark paths you must always keep one path leading back to the light. If you do not, the dark will trap you forever and you will become what you hate. Remember that, Allison."

"I'll remember, Splinter."

"You have your grandfather's spirit but none of his caution. Be careful, Allison."

"I will, Splinter." He breathed deeply, closed his eyes, and loosened his grip on Allie's hand. She looked up in alarm.

"It's okay," Donnie sighed. "He's just unconscious again."

Raph burst in. "What's going on? What's wrong with Splinter? What did you do to him?"

"I didn't do anything," Allie whispered sharply.

"Take it outside," Donnie growled. "Now!"

Leo grabbed Raph's arm and pulled him out of the bedroom, past the train car, and into the main room. Mike touched Allie's shoulder and she looked up into his face with an expression of pain and vulnerability he had never seen on her face before. It flickered and was gone. But she followed Mike out.

Raph shook off Leo's hand and grabbed up Allie's shirt, slamming her against the wall. "Raph, have you gone crazy!" Allie gasped. "Let me go!"

"Raph, let her go!" Mike tried to grab him, but Leo held him back. "Are you crazy?"

"Let Raph get it out of his system. It'll keep him off Donnie's shell. We won't let him hurt her."

"I want to know what's wrong with Splinter!"

"Do I look like a doctor?"

"Tell me!"

"He's probably dying!"

Raph's eyes grew wilder. "Why are you here?"

"Splinter wanted to talk to me!"

"Splinter wanted to talk to you? What did he say?"

"I have the spirit of my grandfather but none of his caution!"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know! You've known Splinter longer than I have, you tell me!"

He pushed her harder against the wall. "That's right, I have known Splinter longer! So why did he want to talk to you?"

Allie's face shifted to a stoical calm that infuriated Raph even more. "Are you that jealous, Raphael? So jealous that you doubt Splinter's love for you? How could you?"

"You don't know anything about me! And you never will!"

Mona frowned as she watched with Dan, Keno, and some injured man watch the altercation. "Isn't anyone gonna break this up?"

"No one that knows Raph well," Dan answered.

"Good thing I don't," she answered as she strode forward.

Casey whistled, "That's one brave gal."

Mona grabbed Raph's shoulder. "Let her go, Raph."

"Back off, Mona," he snarled.

"You back off first."

Raph glared at Allie but he finally let go of her turtleneck and her feet slid down the wall and hit the floor. He jerked his shoulder away from Mona and strode out of the Lair. "He's not mad at you." Mona gazed at the girl she had just rescued. "He just scared," Allie finished explaining.

"Scared or not, that doesn't give him any excuse to act like a social cretin. And if someone will show me the way out, I'll tell him so."

"I'll show you," Zack said quickly and bounded to the ladder.

Allie finished sliding her body down the wall until she sat on the floor. Mike quickly knelt beside her. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. I just never expected him to turn on me like that. All talk and no action that's what I thought Raph wasat least concerning me."

"There is more to Raphael than any of us can understand."

"Isn't that true of everyone, Lotus?"

The Japanese girl nodded at April. "True, but it is most apparent in Raphael."

Allie laughed. Mike looked at her quizzically. "What so funny?"

"Someone finally realized that I'm not the only one who needs help around here."

* * *

Mona faded into the shadows as the Foot Clan ninjas raced past. "What's a matter fellas? Not having any fun? And I was just gettin' started!" 

She stepped back into the light. "Raph?"

"I'm busy, Mona."

"They're long gone and we need to talk, Lover-boy."

Raph sighed, "I overreacted down there. I know that. I always overreact concerning Allie."

"Why?" Mona led him back to the shadows where they sat on the sidewalk.

"I don't know. Easy target, I guess. We've never got along."

"She seems like someone who would be your best friend."

"Now. When we first met it was a different story."

"And this Splinter guy is important to both of you?"

"He raised me and my brothers. Taught us everything we know. I guess he's important to Allie. He's the only connection to her biological grandparents."

"So you're going to let your ire towards Allie, a person you don't really understand, keep you away from what might be the final hours of your father?"

Raph glanced down at his feet. "That I would blame on Allie and just get madder at her. You sure picked an idiot, Mona."

"Well, the idiot has his moments. You wanna go back?"

* * *

Zack pulled his knees to his chest in the corner of the couch. Casey was talking softly to Keno and Dan. Leo and Mike waited outside Splinter's bedroom and Lotus and Allie waited with them. Raph and Mona entered, coming down the ladder, and joined them. 

April sat on the couch, giving Zack room to move. "Are you okay?"

"What will happen if Splinter dies?"

April remembered after first meeting the Turtles and Splinter, how the Turtles had come to her when Oroku Saki had kidnapped Splinter. They had grown since then, but he was still their vulnerable point. "Things will change. How they'll change I don't know."

"I've never been close to anyone that's died before." His voice was small. "I was a baby when my parents died; I didn't really know Billy when he died. They're the only one I know of. Allie probably knows more. I would hate for Splinter to be my first."

"I don't know what to tell you, Zack. Death is a part of life."

Zack sighed and April realized she wasn't helping. _After three years, you would think I'd be better at this mothering thing._ "I guess it's something I have to work out for myself. But thanks anyway, April."

Allie touched April's shoulder and gestured. She followed her to another corner of the main room. Once they were away from prying ears, Allie turned to April, her face twisted slightly with worry. "How's he taking it?"

"Zack? As well as can be expected. He's been sheltered from death."

"You sound accusing, April. I guess I'm guilty though. Most of the deaths I've seen were on the streets. If Zack had been out on the streets with me, he'd probably dead now himself. I did buy him a baby alligator once. Pets are supposed to give you an experience with death of something loved. But the foster mother at that time flushed it down the toilet before I had a chance to give it to him. I sure hope that killed it."

"You're jaded about death."

Allie considered that. "I guess I am. I've seen enough of it to jade a mortician. Is that a bad thing?"

April frowned, "It is when you stop caring for the people dying."

"I never said stop caring. But maybe I have and just haven't realized it yet." Allie turned away and walked back to Mike.

* * *

Donnie eased his weary body out of Splinter's bedroom. Everyone's faces looked him expectantly. And he was just so tired. "Splinter's going to be fine." The three other Turtles and Zack rushed into the bedroom. April grabbed hold of Donnie's arm and guided him to a chair. "I'm exhausted but Splinter's going to be fine." 

The rat was sleeping restfully with deep, slow breaths, not like the shallow, rapid ones he had been taking earlier. Allie ducked in. "Look, fellas, you can't crowd him. One person needs to stay up and watch him tonight."

Raph sheepishly fingered his sais still on his belt. "Do you mind if I do it?"

"No, Raph, we don't mind," Leo answered. "Take the first shift."

Allie ushered the rest of them out of the bedroom and turned to Mona. "How good are you in the kitchen?"

"I'm a decent cook. At least, I don't burn water."

"They all need something to eat."

"I'll help," Zack offered.

Dan gazed at the wall, avoiding people's eyes. "If the crisis has been averted, I better go. Not to sound uncaring, but Dad'll go berserk if he finds out I completely blew off the exam in the criminal justice class."

"I better go, too," Keno replied.

"Thanks for coming, guys," Leo escorted them to the ladder.

"You know we would do anything for you guys after you saved our skins," Keno answered.

"And Splinter means a lot to us too." Dan grinned, "He's a tough ole rat. He'll pull through."

"I hope you're right."

"Keep your worrying down to a minimum, Leo. We don't need to rush down here concerned about you next."

"I'll keep it in mind. Good luck on your test."

"Thanks, bye."

"Yeah, bye."

April answered the shrilling phone, "Hello?"

"Hello? Is Allie there? This is Sammie, her roommate."

April turned to the rest of the Lair. "Allie, it's Sammie."

Allie grabbed the receiver. "What's wrong, Sam?"

"What's wrong? I don't know what's wrong; I never know what's wrong! I find this scribbled note about a splinter and this phone number and I naturally assume the worst. Somebody please tell me what's going on! And tell me it doesn't interfere with your test tomorrow!"

"Sam, I don't have time for your hysterics. I'll fill you in when I get back."

April frowned, "You hung up on her?"

Allie gazed at the phone on the wall with relief. "If I had time to indulge her hysterics, I would have. But I really don't want to. I maybe jaded about death, but I don't have nerves of steel and a conversation with a hysterical Samantha Yutang on top of what all has happened is asking for sensory overload."


	12. Chapter Twelve

**TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES**  
**The Ronin**  
**Chapter Twelve**

"I can't take it any more!" 

Sammie watched the Turtle throw himself into a chair and dejectedly sink his head into his hands. "You knew what you were getting into when you first met her." 

"Did I? Or did I think that I might be all the incentive to change that Allie needed?" Mike looked up. "You're the psychology major, tell me." 

"I haven't studied your case long enough." 

"This isn't a joke." He jumped out of the chair and paced the room. "She has to make a choice." 

"Why?" 

"Because it's driving me crazy! I can't stand knowing that she's going out night after night placing herself in situations she might not come out of." 

"Isn't that what you do? How can you ask Allie to give up her right to beat up guys night after night when you do the same thing without being a hypocrite?" 

"Yeah, it's what I do. And it doesn't make me a hypocrite." 

"How?" 

Because Allie knew about it since the beginning and I didn't try to hide it from her."

"So, Allie endangering her life isn't what's upsetting you. It's the fact that she never confided the decision in you that hurts."

"I thought we had a more trusting relationship." Mike gazed out the window. "I love her more than everything. I would do anything for her. But she has to tell me what she wants from me. She has to understand I would follow her anywhere; it doesn't matter. She has never left me out of anything before. Leaving me out of this only proves she doesn't love me anymore." He opened the window, grabbed hold of the rope, and slid out of sight. 

"Don't you understand, Mike." Sammie closed the window. "She never willingly takes anyone she loves into danger if she can help it. By not dragging you with her, Allie proved her love for you."

* * *

Mona surveyed the crowd from the freight elevator. The dance floor inside the Snake Pit was packed as usual. The crowd didn't seem to mind her replacement. She spotted Allie between the elevator and the stage, near the wall. It hadn't taken her long to show back up here.

The blonde norm spotted Mona and met her halfway. "You're not performing?" She yelled over the amplified music.

"Nah, Snake-eyes has me on special assignment. Let's go upstairs."

Allie followed her meekly to the elevator. That alone was enough to make Mona's skin prickle. The club din disappeared as they got out on the third floor dining room. Mona steered them to a booth in the back corner. "How's Splinter?"

"Better. He's staying awake for longer times. Donnie says we're lucky it wasn't a stroke."

"So what was it?"

Allie glanced at her before shying her eyes away. "Donnie says it was a chemical imbalance, but the real reason is he's old. He was my grandfather's pet rat before he was mutated. They don't like to think about the possibility of him dying. I'm not real crazy about it either."

Sage stepped up to their table. "Hi girls. Allie, college keeping you to busy to come visit?" The older woman put her hands on her hips.

Allie smiled up at her. "Sorry, it's been hectic."

"Don't look like you've been eating right either. Two dinners and I don't want to hear no back talk."

"Yes, ma'am." Mona saluted. Sage shook her head and left. The salamander-girl turned back to Allie. She twirled a paper-wrapped straw on the table with her peach-colored fingers. Mona could still see her pensive expression. "Your grandfather's pet? No wonder you got involved with the Mutates."

"Actually, I worked with the Mutates first." Allie looked up. "How much has Raph told you?"

"Try next to nothing. Both our dates have gotten interrupted by emergencies."

"They aren't Mutates."

Sage set their drinks down and bustled off again. Mona sipped before saying, "I gathered that with the way them and the guys in the black pyjamas throw down, the Foot Clan from the evening news right?" Allie nodded and Mona continued. "But how much do they know about us?"

"Nothing. I haven't told them." She lost control of her modulated voice. "You don't know how they are! They're the only ones who can do anything about the evils on the world so just stay out of their way. If they knew about Val Tech, they'd take that battle over too. They can't split their concentration on two foes. Besides we can't have the Shredder targeting Mutates to get to them. And Val Tech would hunt them to learn how they were mutated."

Mona blinked as Allie lost her fire and looked miserable. "Okay, if you say so. I'll keep my mouth shut to Snake-eyes too, but he already knows I ran into them."

"You have to keep your mouth shut; they'll swear you to secrecy."

Mona shrugged. "I still don't know where they came from, so I'm not hiding anything from anybody yet." She took a bite of the chicken-fried steak. "Yummy. And if you don't think Snake-eyes's opinion that they're lone wolf Mutates needs to change, I trust you. But somebody needs to level with me."

Allie sighed and bought herself by chewing slowly. "Promise you'll act surprised when Raph tells you?"

"He'll never know you told me anything."

Between bites of dinner, Allie told her the story of ninjas and elopements, murder and mutations, a hidden baby and unprepared grandchildren and inheritance, and the cycle of vengeance.

Mona finished her drink. "It sounds like a bad Japanese anime."

"Welcome to my life. Stick around and enjoy the ride."

"I finally found a guy who thinks I'm gorgeous now. You think I'm givin' that up?" Mona giggled.

"Good luck trying to civilize him. Keep mum about my involvement in the Mutates when you do have to tell him."

"If they start hanging here, they're going to find out."

Allie pushed her plate away. "I know. I've been trying to find a way to tell them for three years that won't betray either side. Just give me a little more time to think about it."

"That I can do, girlfriend."

Allie smiled at Mona for the first time all night. "So what special assignment are you on? Or is it top secret?"

"Not top secret. I'm trying to find the Ronin and see if she poses a threat to us."

"Good luck." Allie stood up. "I've got to get back to the dorm, studying and all that. See you later."

"Don't be a stranger around here." Mona thoughtfully watched Allie leave. Sage came back to the table. "Well?"

"Kept her under a light scan like you asked me to. She was telling the truth."

"I figured she would but best to have empathic lie detector confirmation."

Sage frowned. "On more thing, her adrenaline levels started spiking at the end of the conversation right before she left."

"Thanks, Sage." Mona sighed. "Damn, just when I thought I had a handle on everything."

* * *

April gazed into the camera. "On a more disturbing note, there appears to be an increase in gang-related violence. Over the past two weeks, five near riots have broken out. The police have narrowed the list of gangs involved in these outbreaks to six. Unfortunately, these six are the city's six largest: the Purple Dragon Gang, the Bloody Marys, the Brothers of Death, the Ghouls, the Red Angels, and the Head Hunters. When asked if this could be the beginning of an all-out gang war, Chief Sterns had this to say." 

The clip shot earlier played. "A gang war? I really don't see the need to alarm your viewers. There are no indications that this will escalate any further." 

"What steps are being taken to protect the citizens of these riot areas?" April's arm shoved the microphone closer to Sterns. 

"Patrols have been increased, and we are trying to discourage rival gangs from invading each others territory." 

"What about the reports that the only invading gang is the Purple Dragon Gang?" 

"We have no confirmation of that." 

"What about the reports that the Purple Dragon Gang is a spearhead for the Shredder's Foot Clan?" 

"I really wish you would stop bringing up your pet theory every time we meet, Miss O'Neil. As I have told you before, bring this department some solid evidence and we'll look into it." 

April and the newsroom returned, "So far there have been no civilian injuries. But the police are advising people to exercise caution, especially if you live in gang-held territory. This is April O'Neil, Channel Three, Eyewitness News."

* * *

"My practice hasn't started yet," Sammie pulled out a chair and sat down at the table in the cafeteria. "This could be illegal." 

Dan grinned, "It's illegal to talk to your friends over lunch? Laws are changing rapidly around here." 

"It's illegal for me to offer professional opinion in a court of inquiry when I am not a licensed practitioner." 

"It's not a court of inquiry until I get here." Keno dropped into a chair. "Okay, what are we going to do?" 

"About what?" Sammie gazed at her plate as she shoved the food with her fork. 

"You know what. You've been a part of this since the beginning," Dan frowned. 

"I didn't do it, nobody saw me do it, and you can't prove anything." 

"Sam, don't make this difficult. We want to help." 

Sammie sighed, "The best way you can help is by not helping and by not saying anything. The situation is under control." 

"Whose control?" 

"That's not a fair question, Dan." 

"I think it is pretty fair. Come clean." 

"About what, Keno?" 

"About the situation. There's going to be trouble." 

"Not if everything goes as planned." 

"If everything goes as planned, she's going to get herself killed," Dan declared. 

Sammie stood up. "The whole reason she never told you is because she knew you didn't trust or believe in her. And I'm sorry to say, she was right." She turned and marched off.

* * *

Mary entered the room flanked by her two bodyguards. The room was brightly lit, having only a long conference table with five chairs on each long side and one at the head. "Well, well, well. If it isn't Bloody Mary herself? I didn't know you were invited to the party." 

The girls whirled around and backed away from the door. Tony of the Red Angels entered with two of his entourage. "What's going on?" Mary demanded. 

"Is this some freak's idea of a joke?" Marcus and two Brothers of Death entered the room, pulling the black hoods of their jackets around their faces. 

"I'm laughin'," Sights entered next with one Head Hunter. 

Mary noticed their baggy jackets. "What's wrong, Sights? Someone took all your toys?" 

He turned his goggled-gaze on her. "That's right. Looks like yours are gone too." 

"If the Dragons show up, I'm out of here," Scar announced as he entered. Two Ghouls followed him silently. He marched up to the table. "Man, this is a real party. Assigned seats." He picked up his place card, flashed it to everyone in the room, and sat in the indicated seat. 

Mary glanced at the table. Each of the leaders had a chair with an empty chair between them and in front of them. Only the chair at the head missed any indication of who was to sit there. 

"The Purple Dragons were not invited." All heads swiveled to the door and watched the two ninjas standing there. The female entered, trailed by the male. "It didn't seem correct to invite them to a discussion about themselves." She sat in the head chair. "Please sit down. And have your guards stand against the walls. I'm afraid I didn't provide enough chairs." 

Mary dropped into her seat suspiciously. "You're the Ronin, the one who's staging a war with the Shredder." 

"Hardly staging a war. I prefer to think of it as making him pay for back crimes." 

"What does that have to do with us?" Marcus demanded. 

"Plenty. The Dragons are invading your territories, every one of them. You don't like it and I don't like it. Let's face it, you've done a poor job of stopping them. But I have a plan that will." 

"Why do we have to listen to you?" Tony asked warily. 

"Do you want to lose your territory to the Dragons? It's in your best interest. Surely, you can understand that."


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES**  
**The Ronin**  
**Chapter Thirteen**

"Say it, Leo. I wanna hear it. _You can stay with us for the entire patrol_." 

Leo sighed as he turned the steering wheel of the Turtle Van. What had convinced him to bring Zack along in the first place? "Yes, you can stay with us the entire patrol. Providing that if anything happens you get out of the way." 

"You'll never know I was there," Zack vowed. He knew the Turtles didn't feel ready for the responsibility of teaching, especially Leo. He wasn't going to push what progress he had made. 

The Turtle Van pulled into a parking space next to the sidewalk. Zack tried to look calm as he hit the cement but he couldn't hide the brightness in his dark eyes. Mike tried to remember his excitement over their first patrol, the one where they had rescued April. To actually be excited over this drudgery seemed alien. He would fight with gusto, never looking forward to a challenge like Leo, never starting a fight like Raph, never dreading a fight like Donnie. But in fighting he found a place to live almost to the fullest and that was his main goal in life. But Zack was young, he didn't know what he wanted from a fight. Or life. 

"You know what directions to take," Leo reminded as he turned. "Zack?" 

"We already had this conversation. Twice. I don't want regular procedure changed because of me and I'm not stupid enough to want to tackle something all by myself. I have my Turtle Comm." He patted his pocket. 

Leo nodded and left, and Zack felt the stirring of pride. He could handle this; he would show them he could handle this. Deftly, he moved down the street, being sure to stay in the shadows.

* * *

Zack peered into the window. It was a jewelry store and five Purple Dragons were robbing it. He reached for his Turtle Comm and a thick arm slipped around his neck. "I wouldn't do that." 

"I don't suppose you would believe I was shopping for a present for my mother?" The man grabbed Zack's wrists and twisted them behind the boy's back. If he tried to throw the Dragon, he would pull his arms out of their sockets. Great, just great. "It's for Mother's Day!" 

"You're a few months late, kid," the Dragon growled. 

"I was trying to find a sale." 

"What did you find?" The rest of the Dragons crowded around Zack and his captor. 

"A nosy kid." 

"Take care of him. You know how the Boss feels about witnesses." The captor gave a curt nod and dragged Zack down the street.

* * *

Mike shook his head. Allie would kill him. Allie would kill all of them. Their only chance was if Allie never found out. He pulled out his Turtle Comm. "Leo, we got trouble." 

"You said you would watch Zack. What happened?" 

"Dragons grabbed him. I'm following from the roofs. But Zack saw them at work." 

"Great. Oh great. I knew Zack wasn't ready." 

"Don't be too hard on the micro-dude. He was reaching for his Turtle Comm when they nabbed him, and we weren't too hot our first times. Besides, Splinter said he was ready." 

"I'll get Raph and Donnie. You follow them." 

"What do you think I'm doing," Mike muttered as he closed the Turtle Comm and leaped to the next building.

* * *

Zack winced as the Dragon jerked open the warehouse door. If only the guy's grip would loosen, then he could get away. 

If by some miracle, the goon actually decided to listen. His hand eased the pressure of Zack's wrists and he tore loose. He sprinted across the warehouse, heading for the collapsible ladder to the catwalk. 

The Dragon swore under his breath as he pulled out his gun. A sai spun and knocked the gun out of his hand. "I wouldn't try that, pal," Raph growled. 

The Dragon's face contorted as he lunged for the gun. Zack heard the scuffle but didn't bother looking back as he leaped up and grabbed a rung of the ladder. The Dragon grabbed his gun and shot. 

Zack gulped but continued to climb. Raph and Leo rushed to the Dragon, who scrambled to his feet and rushed for the ladder. 

"Zack, look out!" Donnie yelled. Zack glanced down as the Dragon grabbed the ladder and tossed it. All Donnie could do was watch in fear as Zack's hands slipped from the rung. 

"No!" rang out in the warehouse and echoed in Zack's ears. Then he realized it was coming from his mouth. Suddenly he felt his body land against something soft yet resilient. He felt his body movement shift and he was jolted back to awareness by landing roughly on his shoulder. 

He blinked and looked up. The black hood of the Ronin stared back at him. She released him and dropped over the side of the catwalk. 

Leo and Raph had the Dragon cornered when the Ronin landed on him feet first. She hauled him up by grabbing some of his jacket in both fists. Then she drifted up out of their reach. "A simple cable and winch." Donnie answered the questioning stares on Leo and Raph's faces. "Probably hooked to her belt." 

The Dragon thought he had been rescued. The Boss must have sent one of his ninjas after him. True, the ninja had landed on him and true, he had never heard of the Shredder sending a ninja out to rescue anybody. But he didn't remember that until he saw the cold fury in her blue eyes. "If you ever, ever pull a gun on anyone again, I will know." She shook his body which she was holding by his jacket. "And I will make you pay for it." One hand let go of his jacket and touched her belt. The she attached something to his belt behind his back, wrapped her free hand around the wire supporting them, and let go of him. 

The Dragon screamed as the grey concrete floor of the warehouse rushed toward him. But a foot away from the floor, the cable grew taunt, and his fall stopped. It had achieved the impossible, Leo noticed as he grabbed hold of the swinging, sobbing Dragon. "I don't think he's cried since the doctor slapped him," Raph commented. 

"He probably slapped him back instead of crying." 

Mike had hooked his rope to the catwalk and had now reached Zack. "Are you okay?" 

Zack winced as he sat up. "I'm okay. My shoulder hurts from the landing." He pulled his fingers away and they were covered in sticky blood. "What happened?" 

The Turtle twisted the boy around. "The bullet grazed your shoulder." 

"I didn't feel anything." 

"You were probably pumping too much adrenaline to feel anything. Donnie can patch you up in the Turtle Van." He helped Zack to his feet. 

"Mike, the Ronin saved me. I would have been splat if she hadn't pulled that Tarzan move. Doesn't that prove she's on our side?" 

"If that's all the proof you need. Raph needs more. Donnie and Leo are doubting their judgements because if the Ronin turns out to be bad, they'll wish they had done more to stop her." 

"What about you?" 

"What about me?" 

"Do you think the Ronin's on our side or the Shredder's?" 

"I don't need any more proof." They reached the set of stairs and walked down slowly. 

Raph helped Leo pull the Dragon out of the building as they trailed behind Donnie, Zack, and Mike. "I really would like to know what she told him," Leo frowned. 

"Yeah," Raph grinned, "I bet he hasn't cried this much his entire life."

* * *

Allie dropped off the ladder and into the Lair. Mike looked up, almost apprehensively. "What's wrong? You don't look that guilty unless something has happened." 

"I like your skirt." Allie obligingly twirled in the multicolored broomskirt. "But black's not your color." 

She glanced down at the black bodysuit. "I borrowed it from Sam. Now what happened? How did patrol with Zack go?" 

"Hi Allie!" Zack cheerfully met them in the foyer with steps and the ladder. "I got shot!" 

"What!" 

"The bullet just grazed him, Allie." Mike hastened to explain. 

"Maybe I shouldn't have sounded so cheerful about it," Zack murmured. 

"You promised nothing would happen to him!" 

"And nothing did." 

"You call getting shot at nothing!" 

"Maybe I should have tried breaking it to her gently," Zack murmured. 

Allie's face was white with fury. She stormed into the main room and Leo, Donnie, and Raph cringed visibly. Mike trailed after her helplessly. Zack watched from the doorway. Casey perked up as he sat up on the couch. "Fireworks!" 

"You . . . you . . . you . . . you promised nothing would happen to him!" 

Raph sighed and turned to Mike. "You had to tell her?" 

"Allie, it was just a freak accident. No one could have foreseen it," Leo said soothingly. 

"Zack'll be fine," Donnie told her in that same tone. "The bullet just grazed his shoulder." 

"About a foot over and it would have just hit his heart!" 

"Now you're overreacting," Raph commented. 

"I'll show you over reacting!" Her boots clumped against the floor. "You're supposed to keep things like this from happening. If it hadn't been for the Ronin, Zack would be dead!" 

Again the Turtles made soothing noises, but Zack didn't listen. He backed away from the main room. "Zackery, what is wrong? Is that Allison shouting?" Splinter looked up from his chair as the boy stopped before the train car door. 

"You never do know someone as well as you think you do, do you, Splinter?" 

"What is troubling you?" 

"Allie's raising hell because the Ronin saved my life." 

"That is understandable. Allison cares for you deeply." 

"That's not the problem. Me and Mike didn't tell her that the Ronin had saved my life!"

* * *

Her anger hadn't spent, not in the least. Her fury had driven her speechless. Leo, Donnie, and Raph realized this and kept quiet, so not to give her any words for arguments. But Mike realized it wasn't just anger that contorted her white face. There was fear there as well. Fear that she would lose Zack forever and she couldn't do anything about it. 

Mike understood this as he gently touched her shoulder and turned her around. "We need to talk." 

"What about?" Her blue eyes were tired, weary of the fighting. 

"Not here. Up on the roof." 

"All right." 

Donnie breathed a sigh of relief. "I hope Mike can calm her down." 

"If he can't, no one can," Leo replied.

* * *

Allie leaned against the rim of the roof, letting the wind brush back her hair. "I love it up here. Remember when we would come up here and look for signs of the Technodrome, despite Donnie telling us it was useless." 

"I remember how everybody in the city was so mad when we finally demolished the thing." Mike leaned his back against the wind as he leaned back against the rim beside Allie. "So what if they couldn't use the interstate system for six months to get out of the city. You would almost think they liked having a weapon of mass destruction rolling beneath the streets." 

"New York, gotta love this town." She turned toward him. "I'm sorry I jumped all over you about Zack." 

Mike sighed, she wasn't making this easy. "Allie, I have to ask you something. Please don't get angry." 

"I'll try but you know I can't promise anything." 

"You're involved in something?" 

Allie sighed, "Yes." 

"Something illegal?" 

"No!" 

"Something sorta grey?" 

"Yeah." 

"What?" 

"Why are you asking about this?" Allie demanded. 

"Why won't you tell me anything about it?" Mike countered. 

"You'll be safer if you don't know." 

"I don't care about safety. I care about you." 

"Why can't you accept me for what I am?" 

"What? Full of mysteries? I accepted everything about you three years ago." 

"People change in three years." 

"And they change their relationships to accommodate those changes. But they can't do that with secrets." 

"So what are you saying?" Allie cried. "That as long as I have a secret we can't have a relationship?" 

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying!" Mike answered. 

"Well, I'm saying as long as you can't accept me for what I am now, we can't have a relationship!" 

"Then it's over." 

"Then it's over," Allie continued to gaze over the city. 

Mike paused as he walked away. "I'll tell you how Splinter's doing." 

"Don't bother. I'll ask Zack." She didn't care that her tone was curt, but her soul shuddered as she heard the door shut.


	14. Chapter Fourteen

I want to apologize for the extended delay. I never intended to be so long with corrections. But we all know where good intentions lead.

Chapters Eight and Twelve have been revised, so you might want to reread what has happened before. I also relize that this story isn't as well liked as _Bloodlines_. I'm open for all suggestions to improve it.

Thanks for your support.

* * *

**TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES**  
**The Ronin**  
**Chapter Fourteen**

"The city's newest vigilante seems to be carrying out a private war with one of the city's largest gangs." April gazed seriously into the camera. "According to witnesses, the Ronin attacked a group of Purple Dragons that were robbing a conveyance store. This is the tenth witnessed skirmish between the Ronin and the Purple Dragons."

* * *

April stared at the papers on her desk. Pennington knocked once and charged in. "April . . . what's wrong?" 

"Nothing. I was just thinking." 

"It always trouble when you think. What new story should I be looking out for?" 

"I'm worried about the Ronin." 

"That's a current story. You're slippin', April." 

"Does she have any idea of what this campaign of hit-the-Shredder could result in? Does she even care? Has hate driven all other concerns out of her mind?" 

"What brought on this sudden pity session?" 

"The Shredder has to know about her. And she's not making him happy."

* * *

The Shredder hissed as he turned off the television set. "Damn that interfering ninja!" 

The Foot Clan ninja bowed respectfully. "Shall we eliminate her, Master?" 

"Not yet. She may prove useful."

* * *

"Aren't you guys just a little bit tired of this?" Mike frowned as they stopped on the roof of a building. 

"You'd feel bad if the Ronin turned out to be a bad guy," Leo prophesied. 

"I don't think she is a bad guy." 

"You're just bummed because you and Allie had that fight." Mike's face lost expression with Raph's words. 

Donnie frowned, "Why did you bring that up for?" 

"What'd I say? Oh, I'm sorry, Mikey." 

"For what? You didn't start the fight." 

Raph lapsed into silence as Mike moved away from them. "Cheered him up a whole lot," Donnie muttered. 

"I feel sorry for him. I can actually understand how he feels." 

"Raphael actually understands how someone else feels? Mona must be having a better influence than we thought." 

"Don't try to be sarcastic, Donatello. It doesn't suit you." 

"Looky who we found," the Purple Dragons dropped and gathered around the Turtles. "The Shredder will be proud of us." 

"Only if you manage to stop us," Leo growled as they settled in their stances. 

"Big talk, shell-back. Let's see ya fight." 

Five Dragons circled around Mike. "Come on. I need something to shake me out of this bad mood." He punched out a Dragon. "It might as well be you guys." 

Raph flipped backwards and landed on a raised portion of the roof. "How many in the crowd can do that?" One Dragon lashed out with a baseball bat that Raph leaped over. "I guess he can't." He leaped over the bat again. "Maybe you oughta see a shrink for that jealous streak." 

Donnie threw a Dragon back with his bo. "I don't want to hurt you." Another Dragon rushed forward and Donnie thrust his bo into his stomach. "But if you keep coming, I'll have to." 

Leo paced with the leader of this rabble of Dragons. "I'm going to earn my bandanna with your shell," the Dragon sneered. 

"The only way you'll get it is to take it off my dead body." 

"That's the whole idea." The Dragon pulled out a pair of sais and twirled them. 

Suddenly, the rooftop was overrun with people. A girl grabbed hold of a Dragon and spun him away. Then she body-slammed the other two away. Mike punched out the one he was grappling with. "Who are you?" 

"I'm a Bloody Mary," the girl hissed. "What's a matter with you? You some sorta sexist pig that won't accept help from a woman?" 

"Nah, I just like to know who to thank." 

A lithe Hispanic boy in a red jacket slid a knife into a Dragon's thigh. "Take care of that, amigo." 

Donnie frowned, "You didn't have to knife him." 

"I could have placed it in his ribs. I did him a favor." 

Raph grinned as the rope extended from a burly figure and yanked down three Dragons. "This is my kind of party!" 

The leader of the Purple Dragons pulled back from his fight with Leo. "Dragons retreat!" Soon, the roof was a mass of fleeing people and then the Turtles were left with a girl and four boys. 

"Does anyone else know what just happened?" Leo demanded. 

The girl stepped forward. "I guess you boys deserve an explanation. I'm Mary, leader of the Bloody Marys. That's Scar, leader of the Ghouls." She pointed to a lanky twenty-year-old with a scar that extended across his bald head, across his face, and down his neck. "That's Tony, leader of the Red Angels." The teen in a red leather jacket nodded. "The guy with the goggles and the hardware is Sights, leader of the Head Hunters." He continued his analytical stare of the Turtles. "And Marcus in the black hood is the leader of the Brothers of Death." 

"You guys hate each other," Donnie announced, perplexed. "Why help us?" 

Tony grimaced, "Because we hate the Dragons more than we hate each other and the Ronin worked out a treaty between us." 

"No more fighting between us until the Shredder is one of New York finest. One of the unknown dead." Marcus was the only one who howled at his joke. 

"The Ronin told us to watch out for you," Sights muttered, his goggles hiding his eyes. "She doesn't want anything to happen to you four." 

"That's nice of her," Raph muttered. 

"Thanks for your help," Leo said, trying to keep their attention away from Raph. 

"It's what we're supposed to do." Mary linger as the other left the rooftop. "Besides, green has always been my favorite color."

* * *

Allie flipped through her notebook. "You'll never learn anything if you don't bother to read it." 

She looked up to see Dan settle into the desk next to her. "I'm not in a learning mood today." 

"And this is your favorite class. What's wrong?" 

"Nothing." 

"Allie, you have never been able to lie to me convincingly. I know I can't see through you that well, so it must be that you never put your heart into it. What's wrong?" 

"Me and Mike are having some problems, okay? And I'm a little depressed because there is nothing I can do about it." 

"You and Mike having problems. That's inconceivable." 

"It is not inconceivable; it's happening right now." 

"You know what I mean." Dan sighed, "Look, I've known you a long time and I've known Mike a long time. And one thing you two have in common is if you both want something, nothing is going to keep you from it. If you both want this relationship, you'll work it out." 

"I hope you're right." 

"You want me to talk to him? On your behalf or something?" 

"Thanks for the offer, but it's not necessary." 

"You gonna be okay?" 

"I'll be fine. You know me, always the survivor." 

"A survivor, Miss Baker?" Professor Dale set a leaflet a stapled papers and a scantron on her desk. "Let's see you survive with these classmates and that grade." 

"I made a C!" Dan exclaimed. "I passed! What did you make?" 

Allie looked up, dazed from her scantron. "I got an A. I wasn't worried about it, but I never expected an A." 

"There was only one A for the entire class," Professor Dale announced as he began to write the grade spread on the chalkboard. 

"I'd keep quiet about that grade, Allie," Dan whispered.


	15. Chapter Fifteen

**TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES**  
**The Ronin**  
**Chapter Fifteen**

Lotus tucked her feet underneath her thighs as she knelt on the straw mat. The training room was the only place in the Lair that she felt she belonged in. The other rooms were too American. She liked the simplicity of the training room and was comfortable there. So Leo never argued if that's where she liked to talk to him. "What is bothering Michaelangelo?"

"He says that he and Allie had a fight," Leo sat down next to her, then laid back with a sigh. It had been a long night. "But I think they broke up. No fight could depress Mikey this bad."

"Are you tired?"

"Yeah. Between fighting crooks and worrying about stepping on Mikey's toes, I'm beat."

"This fight, or break-up, has Michaelangelo very upset?"

"You know how he has so much spirit, gusto . . . ."

"Joy for living."

"That's it. It's like he has lost all that."

Lotus paused, "Do you think that could happen to us?"

"What?" Leo propped himself up with his elbows.

"Fight so badly that we break-up?"

"I don't know. It's possible; anything's possible. But I don't think it'll happen. We understand each other too well."

"Do we? Everyone said that Michaelangelo understood Allison, when she confuses so many of us, buy they halted their relationship. Why should we believe that the same cannot happen to us?"

"It's human nature to believe nothing bad will ever happen to you."

"You are not human. Not to say that matters, but human nature only applies to one half of this relationship."

"I may not look human, but I think like one."

"That is not consoling."

"Sometimes you worry about the strangest things, Lotus. If you want a relationship to work, you have to fight sensibly."

"What is that?"

"Something I heard about on a talk show. The fact is people are going to have disagreements. To keep your relationship healthy, you have to respect your partner's ideas and not get defensive about yours. And when you fight, do it like sane people, not fanatics."

"That sounds reasonable, but what if it is not enough?"

"If you have love, it's enough."

"Yes, but . . . ."

Leo sat up and grabbed hold of Lotus's arms. He gently pushed her to the floor, his lips meeting hers. He finally leaned back, "Have I convinced you yet?"

She smiled up at him. "Almost, my kappa, but not quite."

"I guess I'll have to try harder."

* * *

Lotus raised her eyebrows in surprise as she stopped on top of the stairs. "April?"

The red-headed woman whirled around in the hallway. "Lotus! I never heard you."

"Being a ninja has that effect. Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong. I just wanted to talk to you."

"Come inside." She unlocked her apartment and ushered April inside. The living room was spartan, just like April expected. A futon was folded into a couch. A floor-to-ceiling was on another wall and a bonsai tree rested on a table in front of the window. "What do you need to speak to me about?"

"About the Ronin."

Lotus sighed, "Let me put on some tea. We will be here a while."

* * *

"You're enough to depress Little Miss Sunshine." Casey limped over to the couch with the help of a crutch and fell onto it rather than sitting.

Mike scowled. He was tired of everyone trying to make him feel better. "Aren't you well enough to leave yet?"

"Doc Donnie wants me to stay put until the limp's gone. Says I'll just go beat up some thugs and hurt myself worse if I leave now. He's probably right."

"Why are the ones who are so good at giving advice always right?"

"That girl really has you depressed."

"I'm going to the shrink tomorrow, does that make you feel better?"

"Mike, I'm your friend. Talk to me. Besides, I don't have anything better to do."

The Turtle sighed, "I just don't know what to do. I love her so much, but I can't reach her. Sometimes, I think it's because she doesn't want me to reach her. Maybe she doesn't love me anymore."

"I don't think that's it. I've seen the way the girl looks at you. If that ain't love, I don't know what it is."

"So what's the problem between us?"

Casey fidgeted as he leaned back on the couch and avoided looking straight at Mike. "Maybe the same problem me and April had, forgetting to tell and show just how much you love each other. Taking each other for granted just a little bit. Being too wrapped up in yourself and forgetting that the other is there for you."

Mike blinked in amazement, "That actually made sense."

"You're just saying that."

"No, I'm not. Is that what happened between you and April."

"Probably. The reasons we said out loud was that she hated my trying to get myself killed every night and I hated how she acted so high and mighty. I think the real reason was we couldn't let go of our pride long enough to say _I love you more than anything and that scares me to death_."

Mike frowned, "Before all this, I would have betted that Allie already knew that. Now I'm not so sure. That's how I feel about her; I don't know if she feels the same about me."

"The only way to know is to talk to her."

"You're right, Casey. Thanks."

Keno looked over his shoulders as he set the pizza down on the coffee table next to Casey and Mike. "Is April down here?"

"Haven't seen her," Casey answered. "What's the problem?"

"I think she want to go into reporter mode with me and I'm trying to avoid it at all costs."

"You got something to hide?"

"I don't like to think of it that way, but I guess I do. Here's your pizzas, Mike. Are you okay?"

Mike looked up, "I'm fine, Keno. Thanks for the food." He turned back to his brooding.

Keno shrugged. "How far can you trust April's discretion?"

Casey frowned, "I'll tell you as soon as you tell me what it means."

"Can she keep a secret?"

"She keeps the Turtles' secrets. What's wrong, Keno? You know something bad about something?"

"I have some ideas about something that would probably hurt other people."

"It's never good to keep it bottled-up. Spill it."

Keno glanced at Mike. "I don't think I should. I better go."

"Okay, but just remember I'll be down here for a while."

"I'll remember, Casey. Thanks."

* * *

April sipped on the herb tea. "I'm looking for opinions. What you think about the Ronin's fighting style, who she could be, things like that."

"I do not recognize her fighting style. It seems to be a mixture of techniques in it. If it were not for her vigilante stance and her hatred for the Shredder, I would say she was ninja."

"Why does that make her not a ninja?"

"It goes against ninjutsu philosophy. The ninja is a thief, a spy, a mercenary, and an assassin. The ninja never lets his enemy know who is causing the attacks. The ninja will do anything for money. I have a feeling that if someone tried to hire the Ronin to assassinate the mayor, she would force them to eat the money."

"But the Turtles call themselves ninjas?"

"The Foot Clan was originally a clan and training dojo of ninjas. But under the Hamato clan's influence, we left the ninja philosophy. Besides, by then, most people believed that the ninja was a thing of the past."

"If the Ronin isn't a ninja, what is she?"

"She seems to be an outcast. According to the Turtles, she only trust one other ninja, named Taro."

"And this means what?"

"Many things. Her hatred for the Shredder could have interfered with her dojo's beliefs. Or perhaps something else caused her to be separated from all she cares for."

"Why does she hate the Shredder so much?"

"Why should she not hate Oroku Nagi? Do not look to me for an answer to the Ronin's motivations. That is an enigma to me as well. The same way she toys with the Turtles is an enigma."

"Toys with the Turtles?"

"She deliberately lets the Turtles follow her, or did. She is a ninja, even if she does not follow its philosophy. She can use the shadows. If she did not want them to see her, they would not."

"I feel sorry for her. She's never going to be happy, even if she destroys the Shredder."

"If the Shredder does not destroy her first. But destruction never brings peace. The Ronin has forgotten this."

"Or never learned it." April shook here head, "What I wouldn't give for an interview."

"I would not wish too hard for that. You may discover something you never wanted to know."


	16. Chapter Sixteen

**TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES**  
**The Ronin**  
**Chapter Sixteen**

"Lotus, I wanna ask your advice. Got a minute?" 

She turned to Mike. "Of course. What is wrong?" 

How do I make the Ronin listen to me? She has to stop what she's doing for her own sake. And I seem to be the only one willing to tell her. So what can I say to make her listen to me?" 

"Is this what led to the fight between you and Allison?" 

"My concern over the Ronin? Yeah, I guess so. Can you help me?" 

"Why do you want to help the Ronin? I would have thought you would be more concerned about mending your relationship with Allison?" 

"If the Ronin kills herself, there won't be any point to mending my relationship with Allie. Please, you have to help me. You do what the Ronin does; you can tell me what makes her tick?" 

"I am sorry, but I do not do what the Ronin does. I can offer no clues to what she thinks." She touches his shoulder as he turned away. "It is commendable that you want to help the Ronin, but you should not do so at the cost of your own happiness." 

"You don't understand, no one understands," he muttered. 

"What do we not understand?" 

"I'm not sure I understand any more."

* * *

April looked around the Lair. It was empty of people except Casey on the couch. "Where is everyone?" 

"Doing their own thing. I've been doing some thinking." 

"Careful you don't hurt yourself." 

"Seriously, April." 

"I thought being serious was my role in our relationship?" 

"That's what I wanna talk about. I think Allie and Mikey are making the same mistakes we did." 

"And it's our place as the adults in this situation to tell them or just live our lives through them vicariously?" 

"I already talked to Mike about it and I wanted to see what you had noticed, you being the investigative reporter." 

"I've been so busy investigating the Ronin I haven't noticed anything with Mike and Allie. I knew they were fighting, but I figured they'd work it out. They always have. Are they really fighting as bad as we did?" 

"Have you seen the look on Mikey's face!" 

"Allie must be miserable. She hates hurting Mike." 

"I figured it was probably something she picked up from you." 

"You hurt me as much as I hurt you, Casey Jones!" 

"I know and I'm not happy about it. We both made some stupid mistakes and I don't want to watch Mike and Allie make the same ones." 

"I don't either. But this isn't about Mike and Allie." 

"It isn't?" 

"It's about us." 

Casey looked down at the floor, then looked back up with no hint of mockery in his face. "You know how I feel about you, April." 

"We already tried being together. It didn't work for either of us." 

"Because neither one of us wanted to let go of our pride long enough to say _I love you_. I'm willing to say it now. I love you." 

"Casey," April bit her lip. "I love you, too. But I can't handle a relationship with you. I couldn't stand the sight of you beaten-to-a-pulp then and I can't stand it now. When Dan brought you down here, I didn't know what to do. All I knew was that I couldn't help you, no matter how much I wanted to. You can't ask me to go through that every night." 

"I won't." 

"Thank you."

* * *

"Here, eat." Sammie plunked a bowl of Macaroni and Cheese on the desk in front of Allie. "They haven't seen you at the cafeteria for a couple of weeks." 

She pushed it away. "I'm not hungry." 

"Eat! You have never seen me furiously angry, and I don't want to show you now." Allie reluctantly pulled the bowl back and took a bite. "Now, tell Dr. Sammie what's wrong." 

"I don't want to talk about it." 

"When you don't wanna talk about it, that's a sure sign you need to spill it." 

"You really want to know the whole sordid truth with all the ghastly details?" 

"As long as it isn't gory." 

"Me and Mike broke up." 

"Oh. Oh, Allie. Why? What happened?" 

"He said we couldn't have a relationship as long as I was keeping secrets. I said we couldn't have a relationship if he could accept that I was going to keep secrets. And that was it." 

"And that was it? He knows, doesn't he?" 

"He wants me to admit it. After all I have done for him and he has to act like this. Why can't he just let things stay the way they've been." 

"Why can't you tell him?" 

"I can't." 

"No one's holding a gun to your head and telling you that you can't." 

"I can't tell him." 

"You could if you really wanted to." 

"Maybe at first, but not now." 

"Why did you start this if you can't tell anyone anything?" Sammie frowned. 

"I didn't think it would be like this." Allie pulled her knees to her chest and curled into a ball. "I thought it would be fun to watch their expressions change as they realized that I had done the impossible; me, the one who had to be protected; me, the one who had to be watched; me, the one who couldn't be trusted. I had the Shredder under my thumb. I had ran circles around them. But Mike's expression wasn't shocked; it was sad and hurt. And I never wanted to hurt Mike." 

"You can still fix this by talking to him." 

"But I can't tell him. I can't stand the hurt on his face. And discussing it will only hurt him more." 

"You can't buy that." 

"I'm not only buying it, I'm also following it."

* * *

"Are you sure you should be up and about?" Casey sat up, concerned. 

Splinter sighed, "You sound like Donatello. Where are my sons?" 

Zack dropped the book he was reading. "Sit down, Splinter! The last time you asked that you collapsed." 

The rat sat in a chair with a smile. "They went patrolling with Mona and Lotus," Casey answered. "The gals said the Turtles needed to stop worrying and moping, and looking for ninjas was the cure." 

"You don't feel bad, do you?" 

"I feel fine, Zackery. They left while I was sleeping and I wondered about them. Is that natural?" 

"Of course, it's natural," Casey snorted. "Zack just doesn't want to lose you. None of us do." 

"I do not wish to leave you yet. But there is a journey I would like to make." 

"I hope you don't want to visit the land of your birth," Zack grinned. "I think it would be a little hard to try to sneak you on board a plane." 

"Not a journey that far. I only call it a journey because of the effort it will require. I want to visit a Temple." 

"Any particular temple?" Casey asked. "This is New York; there's gotta be thousands of churches and temples." 

"Preferably a Japanese one and one close to nature." 

"But why do you wanna go?" 

Splinter paused thoughtfully. "That is not an easy question to answer, Zackery. I feel I must, especially after I came so close to dying." 

"But you don't believe in God?" 

"Not as you know Him, but I do believe and trust in a Supreme Being. And I would like to make my peace with It. Do you understand?" 

"I'm not sure I understand why you want to go, but I understand that it's important to you. There's only one problem." 

"What's the problem?" Casey demanded. "He wants to go and there's bound to be something down here to disguise him in." 

"The Turtles will have a fit when they find out you left. Ain't that true, Splinter?" 

"It is true. I will handle my sons, though." 

"Give me a minute and I'll be ready." 

Zack shook his head. "No way, Casey. Splinter might be able to deflect the Turtles' anger from me over taking him out but if I take both of you, it'll take a presidential pardon to get me out of trouble." 

Casey sighed, "I'll be up and outta here before too long, better enjoy it while it lasts."


	17. Chapter Seventeen

**TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES**  
**The Ronin**  
**Chapter Seventeen**

Zack stared at the bonsai trees in the Oriental garden. Splinter was inside, meditating, praying, or something and he wasn't about to interrupt him. This was a peaceful place; it might do some good to bring Allie here. 

Allie, what was he going to do with his crazy sister? She was breaking Mike's heart along with her own. Why? What could be motivating her to do that? And his other big worry, why was she? He had to talk to Sammie. She had known Allie for years and she was studying psychology. Not that he believe that Sammie could cure her, but she could refer them to a good clinic. 

A soft footfall made him look up to see a black figure melt into the shadows. Oh no, he eased off the bench and into the Temple. Splinter looked up, his snout poking out of the recess of the robe's hood. "Ninjas in the garden. They hid in the shadows so they can't be friendlies." 

The doors flew open and six Foot Clan ninjas burst inside. Zack fell into stance with a sinking feeling in his stomach. He couldn't stop all of them. And Splinter was too weak to fight. 

The rat grabbed hold of Zack's arm. "What are your master's orders?" 

"To bring you to him unhurt if possible. Not mortally if not possible," a ninja answered. 

"Then we will go willingly." 

The ninjas came forward and grabbed hold of them. "Be careful! Splinter's not very well!" 

"We will be most careful."

* * *

April tossed the papers she had been studying down on her desk. She couldn't concentrate, not after that discussion with Casey. The trouble was the conversations always came when she needed to be clear-headed. "It's not fair," she finally muttered to the empty office. 

She gathered up the papers again and paused as she picked up her sketching of the Ronin. She had based it off the Turtles' descriptions. "You're a catalyst, aren't you? Everything swirls around and you mess with what you want to." 

The telephone rang and April jumped. "Just a case of the normal invading your thought process in an eerie way." It rang again. "All right. Hello?" 

"Is this April O'Neil of Channel Three Eyewitness News?" 

"I am," she answered the harsh voice. "Can I help you?" 

"I can help you. I have information on the Ronin. You are still interested in the Ronin?" 

"Yes, I am interested. What's the information?" 

"No. You will come to me." 

April jotted down the address. "What if I don't come?" 

"You will come, April O'Neil. How can you refuse?" 

She hung up the phone and bit her lip. She glanced down at the picture. "Let's see what secrets you're hiding."

* * *

Sammie frowned as she stared at her textbook then looked at the clock. The test was next week and she was going to be prepared. 

She heard the window swing open, but didn't pay any real attention to it. Probably Mike or one of the other Turtles. "What's the problem tonight?" No one answered and suddenly an empty feeling erupted in her stomach. She pushed her chair from her desk and a black-gloved hand slapped across her mouth and an arm tightened around her torso, pinning her arms. 

A ninja jumped in front of her and grabbed her feet. The two pulled her out of the chair, gagged her, tied her wrist together and bound her arms to her sides. "You're Turtle friends aren't here to help you now," one ninja crowed as they escorted her to the window. 

Sammie didn't pay any attention to him. _Allie was right, Allie was so right. Allie was always right. And these guys are so stupid! But what's the Shredder going to do when he sees it's me? He's not going to be happy about it. This situation certainly knocks out that whole thing with the principal as first in the absolute-worst-thing-Allie-has-gotten-me-involved-in category._

* * *

April double-checked the address. The corner held a squat building schedule for demolition. Some of its neighboring buildings were already in pieces. "I've seen worse," April muttered. The only light spilled onto the street from a light above the door. 

"Miss O'Neil?" 

April whirled around and stared at the open door of the building. A truck rumbled past and she jumped onto the curb and pressed against the building. All streets should require sidewalks. She regained her composure and faced the dark door. "Are you the one who called me about the Ronin?" 

"I am. Come inside, April O'Neil." 

"I don't think so." 

"My friends will escort you inside. They are very persuasive." 

"I won't be intimidated." 

"No one is forcing you to come inside. Yet." 

She edged closer to the door. "What is so important that you have to go to this extreme?" 

"If you must know, come inside." 

April grimaced but pulled the open door to her unflinchingly. The interior was dark, cool, and empty. Her shoes clacked on the concrete floor. "I'm inside. Where did you go?" 

"Right here," the words brushed against her ear. She whirled and someone else grabbed her arms as she caught the glint of metal. "April, April, you are becoming predictable. Just offer information about your new pet subject and you come so willingly, and you new pet subject is whatever the lead story is on the eleven o'clock news." He traced her jawbone with his finger until she jerked her head away. "I can safely say you did not call your friends." 

"What's your information, Shredder," April hissed. "I don't have time for games." 

His dark eyes narrowed above his mask. "You will make time for this game. You are a key participant." 

"What's the game? Maybe I don't want to play?" 

"The only game worth playing. And I do have a small portion of information concerning the Ronin. She does not work for me." He turned to the ninja, "Search her." 

The ninja yanked her purse away and frisked her. All he found was her Turtle Comm. The Shredder nodded as he examined the contents of her purse. "Put her with the others." 

The ninja shoved her into a room. "April? What are you doing here?" 

"Zack? Splinter? He got you two too? Where's Casey?" 

"Safe in the Lair," Zack scowled. "This isn't good for the good guys."

* * *

"Something weird is going on." 

Keno set his red pizza insulator box on top of the others and turned to Dan. "My shift's over. Now what's so wrong that it couldn't have waited five minutes?" 

"I've been trying to reach Zack for over thirty minutes and he hasn't answered." 

"Maybe he's busy." 

"Casey said he took Splinter to a temple." 

"They turned it off so they wouldn't be disturbed." 

"I can't reach April either. By Turtle Comm or phone. And she never turns off hers." 

"Okay, maybe something's wrong. Have you called the guys?" 

"If it's nothing . . . ." 

"Which it probably is," Keno interrupted. 

"I'll look like an idiot." 

"All right." Keno escorted Dan out the back door of the pizza parlor and into the alley. "What's the plan?" 

"I don't really have one." 

"You tell me all this and you don't even have a plan!" 

"Sorry." 

Keno sighed and turned the corner to face the pack of Purple Dragons. "Back up slowly." 

"I can't." 

Keno glanced over his shoulder. A matching pack of Dragons blocked the exit. "Oh great." 

"I have a plan." Dan backed up against Keno. 

"Yeah, what?" 

"Get out of this alive."


	18. Chapter Eighteen

**TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES**  
**The Ronin**  
**Chapter Eighteen**

The ninja shoved April into a chair. The Shredder loomed over her with a snarl. "Call them!" He threw the Turtle Comm in her face without letting go. 

"I'm not playing your game." 

He slapped her cheek with his palm. "Your loyalty to your friends is admirable but you will call them." 

"There is no way that you will blackmail me into leading the Turtles into a trap. You don't have anything to hold over my head that could make me." 

"I do not? If that is what you believe, I should remind you of one sick rat, one frightened boy, and two bruised and battered teenagers. I hold them in my grasp and can make their deaths extremely painful. Call the Turtles and I will spare them that." 

"You're going to kill us anyway." 

"I won't kill you, April O'Neil. I have different plans for you. Could you really live with yourself hearing their screams echo inside your mind?" He grinned sadistically. "And you will hear them scream."

* * *

Casey glanced at his watch with a frown. It had been almost an hour since Dan had called, worried that he couldn't reach Zack. But Zack and Splinter should be back by now. 

Mike dropped into the Lair. It had been a boring patrol, none of the Shredder's bunch to beat up. Casey looked anxious, that was weird. "Where's Splinter and Zack?" 

"I don't know." 

"What do you mean _You don't know_?" 

Casey grimaced at Leo's tone. "I don't know where they're at. They left hours ago to go to a temple." 

"A temple? Why?" Donnie perched himself on the arm of another sofa. 

"Splinter wanted to go. But they should have been back by now." 

"Perhaps they went to see Allie," Lotus suggested. 

"And didn't tell somebody about it?" Raph shook his head, "That don't sound like Splinter." 

"Maybe he did tell somebody," Mona answered. "Just not us." 

"He didn't tell Dan. He called me about an hour ago trying to find Zack." 

Leo pulled out his Turtle Comm. "No answer from Zack. No answer from Splinter. No answer from Dan." 

"Try Keno," Raph inched closer. 

"No answer." 

"Try April," Donnie tried to hold his worry back. 

"No answer." 

"Try Allie," Mike blurted out. 

"What is it, Leo?" Allie looked tired on the small video screen. 

"We got an answer!" 

"If this is your idea of prank calling, it needs some work." 

"This is serious, Allie. Have you heard from Splinter, Zack, April, Dan, or Keno in the last couple of hours?" 

"No, but I just got back from the library and turned my Turtle Comm back on. Why?" 

"Thanks!" He cut her off and turned to the group. "Something's wrong." 

"So how are we going to fix it?" Raph demanded. 

"First we have to discover what's wrong exactly," Donnie started pacing the floor. "For them all to have their Turtle Comms off is a bit too coincidental." 

"Could something have happened to all of them? This is New York," Mike reminded them needlessly. 

"The same big thing or lots of different small things to each of them?" 

"You lost me, Donnie." 

"There must be a rational explanation," Mona declared. 

"Yeah, trouble." Raph threw himself into an easy chair. 

Leo's Turtle Comm beeped and he pulled it out. "April! Where are you?" 

"A prisoner of the Shredder." 

"Let me guess; Splinter, Zack, Keno, and Dan are with you too?" 

"Yeah." 

"Are they okay?" Donnie asked. 

April heard him. The Turtle Comms had good microphones. "We're fine. But that's probably temporary." 

"What does the Shredder want us to do?" 

"Surrender, With Lotus and Mona too." 

Leo repeated the address she told him out loud. "Don't worry." 

"I know I can count on you guys." Her transmission was abruptly cut off. 

He closed the Turtle Comm. "What are options?" 

"Surrender or let the Shredder kill our friends." Lotus rested her hands on his shoulders. 

"How did the Shredder miss Allie?" Casey gazed at their faces. Mike's brightened a little. 

"I don't know but it's not going to help us any. We either surrender or we don't." 

Raph stood, "Let's go." 

Casey stood up with them. "I'm going with you." 

"April didn't say anything about you. We may need you help later." Leo couldn't look him in the eye. 

"After the Shredder takes over the city?" 

"If we're going down, we're takin' the Shredder with us." 

"Life sure isn't boring with you, is it, Lover-boy?" 

Casey sat down and watched them leave. "I hope you know what you're doing, Leo." 

The Turtle grabbed hold of the ladder, the last one to leave. "I hope I do, too."

* * *

Allie's boots hit the floor. "What's going on? Where is everybody?" 

Casey perked up, "Allie?" She appeared in the doorway. "The Shredder never got you? How'd he screw up so bad?" 

"I don't know. All I know is my dorm room is a mess, my roommate is missing, Leo doesn't where Zack, Dan, April, Splinter, or Keno are, and now you're telling me the Shredder has something to do with it!" 

"You don't look good in black." Her skin and hair were pale against the black leotard, tights, and cut-off shorts she was wearing. 

"What the hell is going on?" 

"The Shredder has April, Splinter, Dan, Zack, and Keno. The Turtles went to surrender." 

"Lotus and Mona too?" 

"Yeah." 

"He'll kill them!" 

"I know that. They know that. But what choice do they have?" 

"They don't. But I do." 

"Allie, what are you going to do?" Casey limped after her. 

"What I have to!" The sewer cover clanged shut. 

"Well, damned if I'm going to miss all the fun," Casey muttered. He hobbled to the first aid kit. He grabbed the tape. He was used to taping up whatever hurt from playing hockey. Nothing different from usual; his ribs had almost healed. He grabbed his hockey stick and goalie mask. "Now, we're ready to party."

* * *

"This doesn't look good," Mona muttered. 

The ninja gestured for their weapons and they reluctantly handed them over. The rooftop of the building was covered with Foot Clan ninjas and Purple Dragon gang members. "I agree," Lotus murmured. 

"Where's the Shredder?" Raph growled. 

"So eager to die, Turtle?" They faced the armored ninja who led his prisoners to the roof. The Foot Clan ninjas gathered around them, separating the groups. 

Leo took a half-step forward. "Let them go, Shredder. You have us." 

"Do you think that's all I want, Turtle? My leadership will not be threatened by my enemies. And you are all my enemies." 

"You are a fool, Oroku Nagi," Lotus spat. "The Foot Clan did not follow you before and they will not follow you ever." 

"With no Hamatos to lead, they will have no choice." 

"But you forgot a Hamato, Shred-head," Mike crowed. "Allie's safe and sound." 

"Foolish Turtle. Your lover is now on her way to join us." 

"She might be. But it won't be to surrender." 

The Shredder ignored him and started barking orders in Japanese. The two groups were pushed together and surrounded by ninjas. Donnie moved to Splinter's side. "Are you all right?" 

"I feel fine. Is Allison safe?" 

"She was safe when we left. But then, when we talked to her we didn't know Shredder was grabbing everybody to blackmail us into surrendering." 

"Michaelangelo is very sure that Allison will resist." 

"There's not much Allie does without putting up a fight." 

"That is true." 

Zack looked up at Leo. "If I had know this was going to happen I wouldn't have taken Splinter out." 

"I know. I'm not blaming you. I'm glad you were then to take care of Splinter." 

"Is Allie all right?" 

"I don't know." 

Mona gave a silent whistle at the sight of Dan and Keno. "You look like you've went through the ringer. What happened?" 

"We were stupid," Dan answered. 

"By the way you look, I'd say that was a given." 

"We pissed off the Dragons sent to escort us here," Keno winced as he shifted his shoulder. "And they made sure we knew they were upset." 

Raph cleared his throat, "The Shredder don't know Allie. He's probably overestimating his ninjas' brain power." 

Mike glanced at his brother. "Why do you say that?" 

"Because it's true. And because you needed to hear it. Look, I know me and Allie have our problems, but if anyone can get out of this situation it'll be Allie. So don't worry too much." 

"I'll try not to."

* * *

Casey pulled himself onto the rooftop of a neighboring building that hadn't been demolished. He glared through his binoculars at the ninja-seething roof. April, the Turtles, Splinter, and the others were surrounded by ninjas. The Shredder seemed to be clearing a fight space on the rest of the roof. So he was going to try to get the most fun out of killing the Turtles. Well, he was going to have to try real hard. 

Suddenly, he felt the point of a sai against the back of his neck. "Turn around slowly, friend Casey Jones. It would displease my mistress if I accidentally killed you." 

Casey raised his hands and turned slowly to face the ninja. All he was missing was the Foot Clan's bandanna wrapped around his forehead. The background of the roof he was on was crawling with gang members. "I don't know you, pal, so I'm not a friend." 

"I am Taro. I am positive your friends, the Turtles, have told you of our encounter." 

"Yeah, they told me your mistress is the Ronin." 

"Yes." 

"What does she want with me?" 

"She does not want you interrupting the proceedings." 

"If the Shredder makes a move toward my friends, I'm going down there." 

"The Ronin will not allow your friends to be harmed. That is not her desire." 

"She wants to destroy the Shredder." 

"Yes." 

"Why do you follow her?" 

"She saved my life. The Shredder would have destroyed my being and all that I believe in. I owe the Ronin my sanity." 

"So you fight for your therapist," Casey smirked. 

"I owe her my life." 

"So you repay her by helping her be a vigilante." 

"You are a vigilante." 

"I am?" 

"You are as well as your friends, the Turtles. Why should you despise her for doing what you do?" 

"I don't know. I don't despise her, I just think she's crazy." 

"Because she wants to destroy the Shredder? She has more reason than anyone else in this city to hate him."


	19. Chapter 19

**TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES**  
**The Ronin**  
**Chapter Nineteen**

"This is not good," Sammie muttered as the ninja pushed her through the crowd of ninjas and Dragons. This was not going to be a fun party. She knew fun parties. In the first place, you got invited to parties-not kidnapped. You were escorted to a party-not held at knife point. And everyone didn't wear the same costume. 

They reached a clearing dominated by a ninja who wore a purple shirt with outrageous metal spiked shoulder pads, a helmet with matching face mask leaving only his eyes visible, and three-pronged metal claws on his hands. Sammie gulped as the ninjas pushed her down at his feet. _This is the Shredder, don't say anything stupid._ "You were in last month's issue of Heavy Metal, weren't you?" _Stupid!_

His eyes narrowed. "Who is this?" he hissed. 

"Allison Baker," a ninja answered. 

"Imbecile!" The Shredder slapped that ninja and the others dragged Sammie back to the group of ninjas. 

"Sammie? What are you doing here? You've never pissed off the Shredder?" Zack helped her to her feet and untied her. 

"You know how I have always said you blended in much better in my family?" 

"Yeah, so?" 

"I think those morons mistook me for your sister." 

"Morons would aptly describe them," Lotus growled. 

"I told him. He wouldn't get Allie that easy." Mike grinned, then it faded. "Where is she?" 

"I don't know," Sammie admitted. 

"Are you all right?" 

"Physically, I'm fine; emotionally, I've been better." 

The Shredder shouted order in Japanese. "No!" Lotus shouted and gabbed Zack. The Foot Clan ninja shoved her back and yanked him forward into the arena. 

The Shredder unsheathed his katana hanging from his belt. A ninja handed one to Zack and scampered away. Zack felt the blood drain from his face. "We will fight to the death for leadership of the Foot Clan." 

"Oroku Nagi, no!" Lotus screamed. 

"He is not ready," Splinter reasoned. 

"That is not my fault." 

"He will not fight you." 

The Shredder whirled around to find the source of the electronically-altered voice. "The Ronin. I was wondering what kept you." 

She stood behind him, in front of the empty space once blocked by a building, holding a katana in her right hand. She walked forward, coming around the Shredder to stand beside Zack. "He will not fight you. But I will." 

"I owe you much for the damage you have caused me," The Shredder's eyes narrowed. 

"And now it's payment time. But no matter who wins, your prisoners go free." 

The Shredder laughed, "You are in no position to bargain, Ronin." 

"I'm not bargaining. Look around you, Oroku Nagi. At the buildings that have not been demolished." The gang members waiting on the other rooftops grinned down at him. "Agreed?" 

"Agreed." 

The Ronin looked down at Zack. "Go back to your friends." 

"But he'll kill you!" 

"But he won't kill you or the others." 

"You can't do this!" Zack yelled as a ninja pulled him away and thrust him back into the mass of people. He grabbed Mike's arm. "You have to stop her!" 

Mike's eyes were averted from Zack and the fight. "It's her decision." 

"The Shredder will kill her!" 

"It's her decision." The words choked in his throat. 

Zack whirled to face Sammie. "You make her stop! She'll listen to you!" 

"She won't listen to me. Not about this." 

"Somebody has to stop her! He'll kill her!" 

The Shredder watched the Ronin warily. "The little one does not approve of your decision." 

"I never asked him to like it." 

He watched her carefully, then lunged forward. Ronin blocked it in fluid motion. He lunged forward with his claws, and she pivoted away gracefully. She stood, patiently awaiting his attack. He ran forward, putting all of his strength into his blows. She blocked the ones she could and dashed away from the rest. He saw her about to maneuver around him and followed with his katana. It caught her shirt and ripped it. 

The Ronin stood there, waiting, panting slightly. Mike let out the breath he was holding. "She wasn't hurt." 

"She's not getting mad," Sammie whispered. "Why isn't she furious?" 

"Because she's already saved us," Zack muttered. "It doesn't matter what happens to her." 

The Ronin danced away from the Shredder's blade. "Stand still and fight!" 

She did, but always blocked his katana, making him angrier. Suddenly, her katana whirled in her hands and the Shredder jumped back. She followed him, the katana dancing in front of her. "I'm fighting, Oroku Nagi." 

He lunged forward with his katana, and the Ronin dropped back. Suddenly, he slashed at her feet. She lifted one quickly and the other twisted against the ground. The Shredder lunged forward and she spun away from his blade, giving herself a few feet of room. 

Mike didn't realize he was straining for a better view until the ninjas shoved him back. The Ronin was favoring her right foot, the one that had just twisted painfully. 

The Shredder grinned. "You are growing weaker, Ronin. I will win." 

"I never planned on winning, Oroku Nagi. Just stopping you." 

The Shredder growled and lunged forward. The Ronin blocked his katana, but never saw his foot lashing out. It struck her ankle and she cried out, lifting her foot. His foot struck again in the few seconds she was off-balance, striking her left knee. She crumpled to the floor and her sword skittered away. 

He rested his blade, point ready to drive into her chest. "Finish it," she growled. 

"In good time." He placed his foot on her stomach and reached down for her hood. "I will know who you are before I send you to the afterlife." He snagged the hood with his fingers and pulled. 

A collective gasp came from the crowd. "Allie! The Ronin has been Allie all this time?" Raph demanded. "I don't believe it!" 

"You didn't know?" Sammie sounded incredulous. "After all the times she gave herself away, and you guys didn't have a clue?" 

"I figured it out and Mike knew too." 

Leo glared at Zack, "And you didn't tell us?" 

"I thought you knew!" 

The Shredder grinned down at Allie's furious face. "You do not like it that I have given your secret away. You will not have to live with it long." He lifted his katana. 

"No!" Mike screamed, breaking loose from the ninjas. 

The Shredder turned away from Allie and she jerked herself away, rolled along the roof, grabbed her katana, and jumped to her feet. 

The Shredder completed his pivot and brought his katana around. The blade caught the Turtle and he fell to the floor. 

"Mike!" Donnie yelled as the Turtles strained against the ninja blockade. 

Allie stared at the bloody blade. That's all that filled her vision. That blood was Mike's blood! 

The Shredder and everyone else within hearing range turned to Allie. The banshee wail had come from her and now she was running for the Shredder. He barely got his katana up in time to block. She swung again and again, forcing the Shredder back with each swing. 

Sammie grabbed Lotus's arm, not knowing who the female ninja was but judging her to be one capable of helping her stop Allie. "She's snapped! Hit her point of no return! She'll kill him!" 

"If she does not, I will." 

Allie's katana finally flung the Shredder's away and she released hers along with it. He desperately lunged forward while her back right shoulder was exposed and sliced across the shoulder blade with his left claws. It didn't even knock her off-balance. She turned back and faced him. Then she laughed, and for the first time in his life, he was afraid of something. He was afraid of that laughter. "Is that the best you can do, Oroku Nagi?" He stepped back from her. She reached into one of the compartments on her belt and pulled out an identical pair of claws, molded to fit her hands. "I have toys like yours, too. What's wrong? You don't want to play anymore?" He stepped back and she followed him. "You are a fool, Oroku Nagi. I have followed you into the darkness to destroy you. When we travel in the darkness, we need a path to the light. You never had one and you've just destroyed mine." 

"Shut up!" The Shredder lashed out again, blindly. His claws contacted her face but she shifted carefully, leaving only three bloody stripes. 

She laughed again. "That is the best you can do! I can do much better than that." 

"You will not kill me. You do not have it in you." 

"You destroyed my path to the light. I can do anything you can." She stabbed with her left hand, raking the claws diagonally across his torso. "For my grandparents!" Her right hand raked across forming an X. "For my brother!" She plunged the claws into his stomach. "For Michaelangelo," she whispered. She released the claws, leaving them in his body. She reared back and kicked them further in. The Shredder lost his balance and fell back, into the air. His body landed among the ruins of the demolished building. 

The Turtles and Zack shoved their way through the stunned ninjas. The other gang members cheered as they descended to attack. 

Zack grabbed Allie's swaying form and pulled her down to her knees. "Allie! Allison! Allison Lee Baker! Say something! Please!" 

Donnie kneeled beside Mike's body. He tentatively touched him and the body groaned. "He's still alive!" 

Leo helped Donnie upright him. "I'm okay. He wasn't trying to kill me. Just lost a little blood, that's all." He blinked and actually focused his eyes. "Where's Allie?" 

Raph pointed her out and Mike lurched to his feet. He grabbed the cut on his arm and stumbled to her. "Allie! Allie!" He grabbed hold of her shoulder and jerked her around as he knelt beside her. 

Blood was coating her left cheek. "Mike?" Recognition dawned on her face. "I thought he killed you!" She seized him in her arms. "I thought he killed you!" Suddenly, she pulled back. "What have I done?" 

"It'll be all right, Allie. You didn't do anything wrong." 

"What have I done!" she screamed. "Oh my God, Mike! I thought he killed you!" She broke down into sobs. "What have I done?" 

Taro touched Mike's shoulder. "The police are coming. She must not be here." 

"We all better get out of here," Zack replied as he helped Taro help Allie and Mike up. "Or we'll be down at police headquarters answering questions we'd rather not be asked." 

"We shall leave." Taro led the way, through the fighting and fleeing crowd that for the most part ignored them. Donnie joined Mike's side as Leo let Splinter lean on him and Raph trailed behind. Mona, Lotus, and Casey escorted April, Sammie, Dan, and Keno out of the fray. 

And no one noticed the police sirens in the distance.


	20. Chapter 20

**TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES**  
**The Ronin**  
**Chapter Twenty**

"When did you start practicing medicine?" Mike bit his bottom lip as Taro finished stitching the cut on his arm. 

"My ninja training included first aid." 

"So why isn't Lotus helping stitch us up?" 

"Her training did not include first aid. Norinaga Lotus, no matter how gifted, is a student of the martial arts. She has trained to train at other dojos and become a vessel of knowledge. If you are a fighter, you learn methods that will save your life." 

Donnie picked up the wet washcloth, wiped away the blood on Mike's arm, and began to bandage the stitches. "Thank God, you're a Turtle. That slice scarred your shell. And be glad he knows what he's doing. I couldn't have patched you four together alone." 

Taro turned Allie, who sat in front of Mike, to look at her back. He tore her blood-soaked shirt and leotard away from the wound. "This almost went to the bone." Allie shied away from his touch. "Be still, Mistress. You will die if it does not heal." 

She shied away, making a small noise in her throat. "Hold her, Mike," Donnie ordered. 

He wrapped his good arm around her waist and laid her head on his shoulder. "Don't," she whispered. 

"We're getting you fixed up. You were hurt bad." 

Taro finished stitching her back and Donnie bandaged it as he stitched her left cheek. "The time of danger is past. But you will both need to rest." 

Mike leaned back on the couch and drew Allie back with him. Zack handed the Turtle a soft drink and sat down nearby. "Has Allie said anything yet?" 

He gulped down the drink. "I think she's still in shock." 

"Do you think she'll be okay?" 

"I don't know if she can bounce back from this one."

* * *

Raph nudged Leo as they watched Taro patch up Keno and Dan. "Do you think it's a good idea to let him know where the Lair is?" 

"Did you want Allie and Mike to bleed to death? Besides, he wouldn't have stayed behind. He considers himself her honor guard. 

Casey cleared his throat slightly as he joined them. "What are we going to do about Allie?" 

Leo sighed, "I don't know. Conference time." 

Raph, Casey, and Donnie followed Leo into Splinter's meditation room. Splinter and April looked up. "Allison?" 

"We don't know what to do, Master Splinter."

* * *

Taro set the last bandage on Keno's face. "Just tell your parents that you were in a fight. That should not worry them." 

"You don't know our parents," Dan grumbled. 

Taro partly turned and saw Lotus watching him. "Do you ever take off your hood?" 

"I do." 

"Among friends?" 

"Still as controlling as you were once." He pulled off his hood, then pushed his black hair out of his eyes. "Are you satisfied now? Your suspicions have been proven correct." 

"You two know each other?" Keno asked incredulously. 

"We did, once," Lotus admitted. "Why did you follow Nagi? You owed no allegiance to the Oroku clan." 

"What was waiting for me in Japan? I am a fighter, Lotus, not a student. I must go where the battles are, regardless how I get there." 

"Even if you got there on the wrong team?" Mona asked. 

"As long as I fight for the right goal, does that matter?" 

"What an interesting mind set," Sammie leaned closer. "I can understand how you and Allie started working together. How did you meet?" 

Taro looked pained. "Let me keep some of my secrets. That was not my finest hour, and I pay for it now."

* * *

Allie shuddered. This wasn't right. Mike had his arm around her waist. "Why am I here?" 

Mike stroked her uninjured cheek. "You were hurt. We had to slap on a couple of Band-aids." 

"You should have left me." 

"For the police? I wouldn't do that." 

"I committed a crime." 

"You didn't commit a crime," Zack frowned when Allie didn't respond to him. 

"I murdered him." 

"You executed him. There's a difference." 

"You should have left me." 

"I'm not going to leave you, Allie."

* * *

Mona stood up, "I'm going to see what they're discussing." 

"Who's discussing what?" Sammie glanced up and around the main room. 

"Just about everyone and probably about Allie." She walked around the train car. 

Sammie touched Mike's arm. "They're trying to decide something about Allie. We need to explain what's she done." 

"They should already know," Lotus joined them. 

"They know what she did, but not why." 

Mike eased away from Allie. "I'll be back in a minute. Zack, watch her." 

For the first time, Allie was aware that Zack was there. "Do you think I did something wrong?" 

"No, I don't. And you shouldn't either. You executed him. Who can convince you of that?"

* * *

Mike and Sammie entered Splinter's meditation room. "She killed him in cold blood," Raph stated flatly. 

"No, she didn't!" Sammie grabbed hold of Mike before he rushed for Raph's throat. "She's not a murderer!" 

"No one called her a murderer, Michaelangelo." 

He sat down heavily and Sammie sat down beside him. Raph gulped. "I was making the point that we don't know what Allie's capable of." 

"I don't think she has done anything we're not capable of doing." Mona pulled Raph down onto the mat. 

"What do you mean?" April frowned. 

"I'll give you an example. Raph, if you had seen the Shredder kill me what would you have done?" 

"I'd kill the bastard!" 

"I rest my case." 

"But Mikey's still alive?" Casey tried not to look as confused as he felt. 

"But Allie didn't know that. She thought I was dead!" 

"The real question is whether it is safe for Allie to stay with us?" Donnie looked lost in thought. 

"What are you going to do, kick her out because she managed to do what we couldn't? That's not right." 

"It's not a matter of right or wrong; it's a matter of what's best for Allie. She has completely broken down. We can't fix her." 

"So what do you wanna do, turn her over to the police? They'll treat her like a murderer; they have to. She's not a murderer!" 

"Mikey . . . ." 

"She's not a murderer! And if you guys can't accept that, I'll take her away, so she doesn't have to remind you of what she's done!" 

"You would leave us for Allie?" Leo asked quietly. 

"Yeah, I would. And you would do the same for Lotus and Raph would do the same for Mona." 

"Stop it!" Sammie ordered. "None of this is helping Allie! Mike, you can take her away from these people, away from this city, but you can't stop her mind from dwelling on this. And she will dwell on this until her guilt is absolved." 

"Samantha." 

She glanced across to the rat. "I don't know who you are." 

"I am Splinter." 

"Allie thinks highly of you. It's not easy to earn her respect." 

"You are Allison's friend. What insights about this can you offer?" 

"What exactly are you asking for? Insight into her character, why did she become the Ronin, why she isn't a murderer, or what it will take to get her out of this funk?" 

"All. If you can." 

"Can I tell is no problem. Can you listen might be one." 

"Wait," Mona looked at her quizzically. "What makes you qualified?" 

Sammie laughed. "I've been observing Allie for five years. I'm using her for my case study in my thesis for my doctorate." 

"Isn't that sorta using your friendship?" 

"Allie's the one who suggested herself." 

"Explain what you know, Samantha." 

"Okay, Allie has something I call the Batman Complex." 

"Batman?" Raph snickered. 

"I'm assuming you have had some exposure to popular culture. Someone suffers from a traumatic experience from their childhood and that person feels they must do something personally to stop what happened to them from happening to other people. Usually, the trauma was crime related, so they start trying to stop crime. That's the Batman Complex. Allie's traumatic event was the death of her parents, separation from Billy, and protecting Zack out of guilt. This was made worse by watching Billy die. That's why she became the Ronin, to strike back at those who hurt her and to keep them from hurting others like her." 

"But why didn't she tell us what she was planning?" Leo demanded. "She told you." 

"She didn't tell you because she was afraid of being responsible for your deaths. In Allie's mind, everyone she has ever loved--except for Zack and Mike--has died. The only reason Zack hasn't is because she keeps pushing him away from the life she leads. She told me because we were planning on living together through college. She was afraid some of the less-than-bright ninjas would mistake me for her--which they did. So she explained everything, who you were, her connection, the Shredder, the Foot Clan, and how she wanted to toy with your ideas about who can help and who can't." 

"If Allie tried to do what we do every night, she would have gotten herself killed," Raph declared. 

"But she did do what you do every night. As the Ronin. And it didn't kill her." 

"What do you call tonight?" 

"She almost died tonight, not because she was outclassed but because she didn't care anymore." Mike argued. 

Sammie nodded, "Besides, she's helped you lots of times before becoming the Ronin." 

"What?" 

Mike nodded, "It's true. We never told you guys because we knew how much you'd hate it." 

"Okay, okay, but you still haven't explained why she isn't a murderer," Donnie frowned. 

"Because the Shredder deserved to die," Casey offered. 

"No, I must have left that out. Someone suffering from the Batman Complex can't kill, especially if that's part of their traumatic event. It would make them as evil as the ones they're trying to stop. Allie killed the Shredder because she lost control. And she'll live in constant fear of losing control and killing again." 

"So she'll stop being the Ronin?" April rested her chin on her pulled-up knees. 

Sammie frowned, "I don't know. The desire to help might be stronger than the fear of killing. But she won't ever kill again, once she's convinced she's not inherently evil. But now she's suffering under her own guilt. She has killed, she is just as evil as the Shredder, she must be punished. That's her current mindset." 

"How do we convince her of that?" 

"I don't know, Mike. I don't think we can. Allie has to figure it out on her own." 

"Then we must do what we can to help her," Splinter decided. "It has been a long night, let us sleep."

* * *

Zack yawned as he looked up at Mike. "She finally passed out. Taro gave her a sedative. Probably the best thing for her." 

Mike picked her off the couch, wincing slightly with the pain in his arm. This probably wasn't the best thing to do in his condition, but he ignored it. "You better find a bed soon, too." 

"I will, don't worry," he yawned again.

* * *

Mona sat up. April and Sammie were still asleep, but someone was moving around. Her biological clock told her it was early morning. She eased out of bed. 

Allie was gathering things together into a back pack. "Where are you going? Off to commit ritual suicide?" 

She whirled around, "Mona!" 

"Answer the question. Are you planning a trip?" 

"Yes. There is someone I have to see. And I don't know where he is." 

"So you were just going to take off without telling anyone." Mona crossed her arms. "He must really be something." 

"It's not like that! I respect his decisions. He can tell me whether I've done something wrong." 

"And you don't respect their opinions?" 

"They're biased. They've been trying for three years to destroy the Shredder. My friend has no reason to want the Shredder dead." 

"Fine, I'll go with you." 

"You don't have to." 

"Someone needs to," Mona retorted. "You don't want any of the others, otherwise you wouldn't be sneaking around." 

Allie swallowed. "I . . . I can't take Mike. He wouldn't understand why I have to do this." 

"I understand and you shouldn't go alone. So write your Dear John letter and let's go." 

"It's not a Dear John letter."

* * *

_I'm sorry, Mike. I have to go. If I stay, I'll go crazy. I'm going to try to find Caine. I've talked to you about him, how he helped me survive on the streets, how he gave me a second chance. He can help me reconcile the part of me that wants to be the Ronin and the part of me that wants to punish myself for doing what had to be done. He helped me before and I know he can do it again. _

I wish I didn't have to go. But try to understand why I have to go and why I can't let you come with me. You would push me toward healing, and I would pass it up altogether. I know you would do it out of love, but I can't upset this process. Just ask Splinter; I'm sure he'll tell you the same thing. Mona's coming with me, so I'm not alone. I love you enough to go through with this journey. And I know you love me enough not to interfere. Trust me, Mike, like I trust you not to follow me. 

I love you, 

Allie 

Sammie touched the Turtle's shoulder and Mike jumped. "Allie's not here and Mona's gone, too. What wrong?" He wordlessly handed her the letter. She read it in silence, then looked up. "What are you going to do?" 

"I'm going to tell the other she's left and that Mona's with her, And I'm going to wait for her to come back." 

"You're going to trust her?" 

Mike smiled at her. "She trusts me. I can't betray that trust." 

"But she didn't tell you what she was going to do?" 

"Because she knew I would try to stop her. She's trusting me not to follow her and try to stop her, so I'm not." He waved the letter. "She finally told me that she trusted me and I believe her." 

Sammie smiled, "They're not going to like it." 

"No." Mike folded the letter and put it into the pouch on his belt. "But they're not going to know where she is."


	21. Chapter 21

**TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES**  
**The Ronin**  
**Four Months Later**

"What's wrong Clin-san? Allie doesn't bite." Mike leaned next to the rooftop door.

"Why could we not conduct this in a less dramatic manner?"

"You're the one who couldn't wait for her to come down to the Lair. It took her almost three months to come back to New York, I'm not going to argue with her if she doesn't want to patrol with us."

"Is that why you wait for her here every night?" Clin-san shifted the cylindrical, cloth-wrapped object in his hands.

"We can make sure we're both alive for another night. Besides, Allie says it's bad for her reputation for people to know she's working directly with us."

"And it is." Mike looked up. The Ronin was lying on top of the roof of the stairwell.

"Get down here." The Ronin stood and flipped off. She pulled her hood off once she landed and kissed Mike passionately. He pulled away, "Clin-san wants to talk to you."

Allie turned. "Clin-san, how are you? When did you get in?"

"I am fine, Allison. I arrived in New York earlier this week. I am most impressed with your exploits."

"If you don't mind, Clin-san. I'm trying hard to be remembered as someone who helped the city, not someone who killed the Shredder."

"Even if they are one and the same?"

"Doesn't matter."

Clin-san smiled. "Now I am sure you deserve this." He handed his package to her.

Allie took it and looked at Mike, who shrugged. She unwrapped it in puzzlement. "It's a katana! And old katana!"

"Centuries old. Legend tells that it was created by Hamato Misao, a master swordsmith. Legend also says that it finds a worthy master from the Hamato clan every generation. It has found you."

"I'm . . . I'm honored, Clin-san. But I've done nothing truly great."

"What you have done and your character makes you more than worthy. I am only sorry that it will be leaving the Hamato Clan."

"It's not leaving. Maybe one of Zack's children will get it. And my children will be Hamatos." She grinned impishly at Mike.

"Let's not go there, Allie," he protested weakly. "I'm not ready to think about that."

**THE END**

So what happened in between the chapters? When did Allie decide to come back to New York?

The answers are in _Wars Are Won: Family, Friends, and Foes_, a Ninja Turtles and Biker Mice From Mars crossover. And guess what? It's already up here at FanFiction dot Net. No lines, no waiting. (I would send you a link directly to it but that seems to be making the system cranky. Check my account page.)


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